Economics

Coal's Two-Year Rally to End in Europe as China Demand Fades

  • Prices predicted to fall 16 percent from four-year high
  • Shift to natural gas and renewables to erode coal demand
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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A two-year rally in coal is set to unravel in northwest Europe as China reasserts an anti-pollution drive it eased to keep citizens warm in a frigid winter.

Benchmark coal prices will probably fall about 16 percent by the end of next year, capping the longest rally in year-ahead rates since 2010, according to a survey of analysts and traders by Bloomberg News.