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Global commodities like iron ore and coal are floundering, shifting big miners like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton into cost cutting mode. That, in turn, has left mining equipment makers like Caterpillar and Joy Global posting weak sales numbers, and forecasting continued demand shortfalls. But General Electricdoesn’t seem to care; it’s still investing in the space.

What’s the deal?
General Electric just inked a 50/50 joint venture with heavy machinery makerKomatsu to build underground mining equipment. The two have been working together on above ground dump trucks, with GE’s Transportation division lending its expertise in electric drive systems. Now, it will provide that expertise to Komatsu’s underground equipment.

Read more at:  http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/03/24/general-electric-has-new-batteries-to-change-the-m/

The Indonesian government has postponed plans to raise coal royalties due to strong resistance from small and medium-sized miners saying it was an extra burden while prices were low, a senior government official said Thursday.

Indonesian miners met energy ministry officials this week to state their opposition to the plan to raise coal royalty payments across the board to 13.5% from the current 3-7%, industry sources said.

Read more at: http://www.platts.com/latest-news/coal/manila/indonesia-postpones-coal-royalty-rise-as-miners-26755426

Turkey’s environment ministry is considering a proposal to increase a limit on the volatile content of imported thermal coal, a move that could potentially allow more Colombian producers to sell their products to the country, according to market sources Wednesday.
Cerrejon — a joint venture between Glencore Xstrata, BHP Billiton and Anglo American — is currently the only Colombian producer which can ship coal that satisfies all of Turkey’s imported thermal coal quality restrictions.

Read more at: http://www.platts.com/latest-news/coal/sopot-poland/turkish-coal-import-restriction-change-could-21356533

Electrovaya Inc. a developer and manufacturer of lithium ion battery systems today announced that it will partner with Canadian Solar Inc. for a micro-grid project. Electrovaya plans to provide a 200 kWh energy storage system which will feature its Lithium Ion SuperPolymer 2.0 technology.

See more at: http://www.solarnovus.com/canadian-smart-grid-project-features-electrovaya-lithium-storage_N7565.html#sthash.0AvFBV3F.dpuf

GlencoreXstrata CEO Ivan Glasenberg, who served in the old Glencore for 22 years prior to the merger with Xstrata, is a coal bull who is keen to boost the company’s coal position in South Africa.

The Switzerland-domiciled but South African-born Glasenberg spent many a trading day in the coalfields of South Africa’s Mpumalanga province before walking the corridors of corporate power in Baar and London.

Read more at: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/glencorexstrata-keen-to-boost-position-in-coal-2014-03-14

A government official said that Indonesia will allow coal production in 2014 to match last year’s levels, pulling back from its earlier attempts to reduce output.

The world’s top thermal coal exporting nation had in January targeted capping production at 397 million tonne, a cut of 5.7% from the 2013 figure. The move was aimed at helping support coal prices that are now at four-year lows and securing supplies to meet growing domestic demand.

But coal companies have said they need to boost output to compensate for declining prices and are planning increases despite government threats of sanctions.

The top 6 producers in Indonesia all aim to boost production in 2014 to compensate for continuing low prices.

Indonesia ships USD 2 billion worth of coal a month to power plants across Asia. A failure to rein in production by the Southeast Asian nation could keep a lid on coal prices and increase market competition as rival supplier Australia is also boosting output.

Read more at:  http://www.steelguru.com/international_news/Indonesia_relaxes_coal_output_cap_as_miners_aim_for_volumes/334530.html

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernst Moniz said he would “welcome consultation” with U.S. Congress on altering the U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approval process to allow the Department of Energy (DOE) to have sway over the destination of LNG exports. The invasion of Russian military into Ukraine – with Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening to seize U.S. assets in Russia if the United States and its allies impose sanctions – has generated discussions of how the surge in U.S. oil and gas production thanks to the shale boom could benefit not only the United States but its allies worldwide.

Read more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/131946/Moniz_Open_on_Talks_for_Amending_LNG_Export_Process#sthash.Vkg5OUmT.dpuf