the truth on ccc please..., page-24

Well done Septa - 10 thumbs up from me, consistently posting well-reasoned, factual and sensible arguments. It's posters like you who make HC a valuable resource - cutting through all the noise & foolishness.

Regarding the "cleansing prospectus" announcement yesterday, I asked JB if he could clarify the announcement, as many here were baffled by it. Here's what he said:

CCC has been suspended for a period of more than 5 days in the past 12 months. Ordinarily when equities are issued a company would issue a one page Cleansing Notice to allow those shares to be freely tradeable, however because of the above we have to issue a Cleansing Prospectus. The need to do so follows LinQ decision to convert the balance of their debt (which was established in Jan 09) into equity. The Cleansing Prospectus allows them to freely trade these shares.

Given what LinQ did last time with their 80m shares (i.e. dumping them all for a quick 20% profit) - we can probably assume that the high volume dumping yesterday came from LinQ once again. So that's one more debt obligation cleared for CCC.

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Here are some new articles on international coal markets, for those of you who follow this stuff:

Russian coal supply problems spur prices - Steel Guru

extract: "Problems with ice were causing severe delays to Russian thermal coal exports, according to news reports from the country.

One UK based coal trader said that "It is a serious problem, from what I hear, especially for Scandinavia adding that if demand rose in Europe, there could potentially be a price spike of as much as USD 20 per tonne."

He said that "Once buyers come back to the market, they will realize there is very little material there."

Australia thermal coal index jumps

extract: "Australia's thermal coal index, a benchmark for Asia, jumped $US9 to over US$136 per tonne boosted as tight supply boosted prices amid the annual negotiations for the Japanese fiscal year coal contract."

China Coal-Prices fall to near 4-mth low, market bearish

extract: "SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - China's (domestic) thermal coal prices fell to a near four-month low of 770 yuan ($117.1) a tonne on sluggish demand, further widening the premium of overseas coal prices and casting a pall on the country's import appetite.

Many buyers in China expect domestic coal prices to stay depressed at least until the end of March, citing a seasonal lull in demand, increased supplies on the back of higher rail capacity and Beijing's pressure on state-owned coal mines to keep spot prices low.

... Prompt physical coal prices for South African cargoes rose over a dollar to $119.25 a tonne this week, while prices for Australian cargoes have jumped nearly 8 percent to $136.50."

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Another thing to consider is the impact of the spike in oil prices following the Libyan tragedy/protests & declaration of force majeure on oil exports. Events like this can only (IMO) accelerate Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) development projects around the world, using SA pioneered technology from Sasol.

Historically, rises in oil prices have corresponded in coal price rises. On the flip-side, if inflation spins out of control, then we'll start seeing some demand destruction. Let's see if the Indians & Chinese can maintain their projected 8 - 10% GDP growth rates.

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For those of us who are fretting about the falling SP of CCC - spare a thought for those affected by the devastating earthquake in ChristChurch NZ (where I have family) "The death toll from Christchurch's devastating earthquake stands at 65, but that is likely to climb a lot higher as rescue workers continue to scour collapsed buildings." ABC News update