Analysis of the Transportation Network for the Export of US Steam Coal.
Abstract
The steam coal trade boomed following the doubling of crude oil prices in 1979. With two of the major world producers, Australia and Poland, unable to respond to the increased demand, the United States was able to gain a share of the increased coal trade. However the US was unable to respond quickly due to its limited coal transshipment facilities and its lack of large vessel capacity at its ports. The combination of increased coal demand and limited port facilities led to the planning of large scale port facility construction at many ports. This thesis develops a model of the entire export coal transportation network from the mine at the origin to the utility at the destination, to address the question of whether and where to dredge. By modeling the entire network, changes in any link can be examined to determine its impact on the network as a whole. In this study the impact of port dredging is investigated by modeling improvements at Baltimore, Hampton Roads, and Mobile. The result of the study is the clear indication that dredging Baltimore alone is the best option available now at low export coal volume, and that the benefits of dredging will increase as the volume of export steam coal increases. This solution is robust in that the changing of rail and vessel costs in a sensitivity analysis does not affect the solution materially. The US will still be the high-cost producer, but the dredging of Baltimore will improve the ability of the US steam coal producers to compete on the world market.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA146013
Entities
People
- S. R. Lindberg
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology