UK coal imports

[dazb]

I know that Polish coal is imported into the UK but what other countries supply coal to us, I was surprised to see that Texas coal was on sale in Southern Ireland, does any American coal come into the UK? How does the Belgian coal brokerage system work, I seem to recollect that countries trading with the UK were able to transfer payment by the supply and exchange of coal through these, if that "barter" system exists is it possible that Chinese coal is being used here?

[John]

Dazb said:

I know that Polish coal is imported into the UK but what other countries supply coal to us, I was surprised to see that Texas coal was on sale in Southern Ireland, does any American coal come into the UK? How does the Belgian coal brokerage system work, I seem to recollect that countries trading with the UK were able to transfer payment by the supply and exchange of coal through these, if that "barter" system exists is it possible that Chinese coal is being used here?

I checked in the BTA's site Daz, seems the majority of the imported coal comes from Columbia, US, South Africa and Australia, but like you I'd bet my old pair of safety boots, that loads comes from China!

Still beats me that coal can be imported from Oz, when they pay such high rates of pay down there!! How can they compete with British produced coal, they don't get subsidized in any form.

[dazb]

Australian wages even being deservedly high are likely to be "lost" in the comparitively much higher OMS and overall lower production costs. I found it staggering that so few underground workers were able to operate not only the longwalls but the whole underground function. The way in which shift handovers were literally that, nothing ever stopping, no pauses in production, everything seemingly ran at maximum output. If a pit could ever be described as being run clinically then it would have to have been an Australian pit.
I know that coalmines in other countries are being worked efficiently, perhaps the USA particularly and that it is likely my misfortune not to have witnessed these, but I must say that Australian pits immpressed me most, the weather was rubbish, cold and downcast all the time, the beaches were dirty and the fishing was crap..........or have I got that mixed up with Blackpool, my memory isn't as good as it should be these days.

[John]

That was Blackpool mate, too many whiskey's clouding your memory..
Fantastic beaches around Wollongong mate! Weather was great year around, couple of months of winter where we got the odd frost on about twenty occasions.
Now over "the hill" Winters were longer, colder and the odd "neet shift" was lost to closed roads over snow falls! I never complained though!!! A paid night, cuddled up to the missus on a nice orthopedic mattress beat a bed in a cold main gate on gummings!

Yeh we were pretty efficient, you might laugh at this, but I recall on several occasions, we were held back from cutting at max haulage speed!! Truck belts couldn't keep up with the shearer!

Even learn't how to drive the shearer and became part of the team when I'd done my work to keep cutting through crib time, (snap time)
We used to split up into two teams, I, the electrician with three Feds, (colliers) and the fitter and Deputy with the other Feds. That way we would cut from shift handover to the end of the shift with only belt stoppages interfering with production.

Reading the new awards, the tradesmen are now part of the faceteams as chargehands, earning $660 a week then bonus on top of that plus overtime, I'd say they are earning well over $1000 a week now!

[dazb]

The same problem occurred all over the world, poor coal clearance and phenomenal coal cutting performance from the Anderson Boyes / Strathclyde shearers.................see, told you that my memory was playing me up !!!!!!
But I do remember well the red bellied black snakes, blue ringed octupus (ii?) and Pelican Airlines, Pacific Highway traffic, prawn toast and Newcastle nights out, not to mention the "Sunday Off" Hunter Valley Vinyard's wine tasting tours, Oh, and turning left at Bombay on the way home.