Price of coal too high in Poland?

"As the industry dictates, we're preparing contracts for [Poland's] energy needs for 2010, and so it is necessary to order coal," said Paweł Smoleń, president of Vattenfall Heat Poland. Smoleń told the daily that coal on the world market can be purchased a year or two in advance, but claimed that Kompania Węglowa (KW) and other Polish coal producers are delaying the process in Poland.

Zbigniew Madej, press spokesman at Kompania Węglowa, dismissed Smoleń's claims. He said that all of KW's price lists were agreed upon with energy firms, and that it had long-term agreements with a number of these companies.

"We are in partnership with many energy suppliers," Madej told WBJ. "We have signed contracts this year to provide 23 million tonnes of coal to suppliers. But prices were negotiated and contracts signed last December, and those contracts are binding."

According to information compiled by Rzeczpospolita, the price of coal from the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) ports on May 7 was zł.9.46 per gigajoule (GJ,) compared to Kampania Węglowa's price of zł.12.0 per GJ. However, Madej questioned the cost-effectiveness of looking abroad to purchase coal.

"There's the question of transport and logistics, because coal has to be brought over and reloaded [into new containers]," he said. "And this also raises the price."

Polish energy companies consume coal worth around E10 (zł.44.33) billion each year. In 2008, Polish coal imports amounted to 10.1 million tonnes.

Robert Szmigielski