Coking coal is high grade coal used in the production of steel.

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Coal stocks fall into the energy sector even through the pivotal variable for earnings is demand for metallurgical grade coal which is tied to world steel production.

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High grade coal that is used to make steel is in particular demand in developing countries such as China, India and Brazil.

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Simply, all the intelligence out of Australia and Appalachia points to higher pricing, some 10 percent on high quality metallurgic grade coal next year.

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There is the further issue of the quality of coal, since the majority of the world reserve is of lower thermal quality than the top-grade anthracitic coal, and will yield less energy per tonne either burned directly or in the form of syngas in ICGC plants.

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By changing operating procedures and burning a higher grade of coal, Midwest boosted output from the 40-year-old plants 12% last year--while reducing emissions.

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But in 1913 one of its scientists, Friedrich Bergius, found a way to turn coal into a high-grade liquid fuel by heating it in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst.

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The Germans also used Fischer-Tropsch process to produce high grade diesel fuels from both coal and wood.

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