Coal traffic at the port of Immingham, the UK's largest coal-receiving port, halved in the first six months of 2010 compared with a year earlier, because of reduced generation and lower gas prices.
The port handled 2.38mn t of coal from January to June, down by 56pc from the 5.41mn t a year earlier. May was hit particularly hard, with only 115,000t coming through the port the same month last year saw 1.04mn t pass through the port, a high for the year.
February received the most tonnage in the first half at around 682,000t, but this was still 38pc lower than the 1.104mn t received a year earlier. In June, throughput was 284,000t, down from 626,000t last year.
The reduction in throughput has been attributed to reduced generation, the low gas price, the increased use of nuclear energy and high stocks at power stations, sources at the terminal said.
UK coal consumers are importing less coal because of high stocks built up last year and the relatively low gas price, which is limiting coal burn at power stations. But because of low gas prices, the amount of coal being burnt is not so high that it is significantly reducing stocks.
Officials at the port have indicated that they expect throughput to recover by the end of this year, but it is highly dependent on gas prices.
At the end of June, coal represented 29.02pc of the UK generation share compared with 50.26pc for gas, according to Argus data.
Total coal stocks in the UK were 20.1mn t at the end of March, 3.5mn t higher than at the same time last year, according to government figures. UK coal imports fell by 43.3pc to 6.6mn t over the three months to April compared with the same period last year.
The port handled 2.38mn t of coal from January to June, down by 56pc from the 5.41mn t a year earlier. May was hit particularly hard, with only 115,000t coming through the port the same month last year saw 1.04mn t pass through the port, a high for the year.
February received the most tonnage in the first half at around 682,000t, but this was still 38pc lower than the 1.104mn t received a year earlier. In June, throughput was 284,000t, down from 626,000t last year.
The reduction in throughput has been attributed to reduced generation, the low gas price, the increased use of nuclear energy and high stocks at power stations, sources at the terminal said.
UK coal consumers are importing less coal because of high stocks built up last year and the relatively low gas price, which is limiting coal burn at power stations. But because of low gas prices, the amount of coal being burnt is not so high that it is significantly reducing stocks.
Officials at the port have indicated that they expect throughput to recover by the end of this year, but it is highly dependent on gas prices.
At the end of June, coal represented 29.02pc of the UK generation share compared with 50.26pc for gas, according to Argus data.
Total coal stocks in the UK were 20.1mn t at the end of March, 3.5mn t higher than at the same time last year, according to government figures. UK coal imports fell by 43.3pc to 6.6mn t over the three months to April compared with the same period last year.
