Cheaper coal demand fires up Welsh mines

By Rebecca Bream
Published: July 19 2008 03:00

With world coal prices reaching records this year, the slow decline of the UK coal industry has halted and there are even signs of a renaissance. This has benefited Energybuild, the owner of the Aberpergwm and Nant y Mynydd coalmines in south Wales, which listed on Aim last August. The Aberpergwm mine was closed by British Coal after the miners' strike in 1985, but was reopened by entrepreneurs in the late 1990s and taken over by Energybuild in 2003. The company produces between 100,000 and 150,000 tonnes of coal a year and sells most of it to the nearby Aberthaw power station on a contract linked to world coal prices. Energybuild aims to increase its output to 440,000 tonnes a year within three years and reach 770,000 tonnes by 2013. The stock was listed at 20p and peaked at 30p last month. Energybuild's results in September are expected to be strong and should give the shares some upward momentum.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008