>>20180241>Hint: Warrior Met has some of the best shit, and Alabama in general does.In fact, one could argue that, historically, Bessemer steel has been better quality stuff than Pittsburgh steel, since the latter mostly used Pittsburgh seam coals which, though cake-able, don't produce as pure of coke as Alabama coals do, and in the past, those extra steps needed to purify the coke to today's standards often weren't taken. We have better steel today than, say, 80 years ago, generally speaking.
Quick tidbit to study before investing in a met coal producer:
>During periods of high demand the high quality coals receive a higher premium relative to lower quality coals. This is because when steel producer utilization rates are high, steel producers can actually save money by purchasing higher quality feedstock. The chemical processes require less material when the materials are high quality. By the way, this quality to cost savings relationship also holds true for iron ore in blast furnace, and thermal coal in electricity generation.>Conversely, during extreme downturns, low quality met coals like HVB will garner the same price in the marketplace as a high heating value thermal coal. Therefore, before investing in a met producer, it’s important to know their quality blend. Are they producing mostly HVA and/or LV or is it a mix of mostly HVB?Warrior Mines produce High Volatility and Medium Volatility A-grade met coals, which are the best. And medium volatility is even better than high volatility coals for making coke because with medium volatility coals there is less volatile matter to evaporate away in the furnace and more coke is left behind when the hot, swollen cake-able coal cools and shrinks into porous gray coke.
Leer Mine and Leer South in West Virginia, owned by Arch Resources, do High Vol A met coal, while Warrior does both High and Medium Vol A coal, with Medium being better, though in shorter supply (less of it left at their present mines).
