Crisis won`t affect exports: Centennial

Centennial Coal Company Ltd says the economic slowdown will have a limited effect on its forecast export sales, with demand for thermal coal underpinned by customer need to secure energy supply.

Chairman Ken Moss told Centennial's annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday
that more than 80 per cent of thermal coal was used for electricity generation, so
its fundamentals differed to metallurgical coals, which were used almost entirely by
the steel industry.
Dr Moss said the NSW-based company, the largest supplier of thermal coal to the
domestic power market, had received enquiries from customers seeking additional coal
over and above contracted levels as they sought to ensure security of supply.
He said the company's existing domestic contracts were "likely to be replaced with a
new generation of domestic contracts" as they expired, "providing a regular low-risk
cash flow stream and free from the vagaries of the Australian dollar/US dollar
exchange rate".
Centennial Coal closed down two cents to $2.45.