A freight train transports coal from the Gunnedah Coal Handling and Prepararation Plant, operated by Whitehaven Coal Ltd., in Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia, on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020.
David Gray | Bloomberg | Getty Images
LONDON — Soaring electricity demand, infrastructure woes and a surge in global gas prices have triggered an extraordinary rally for the world’s least liked commodity.
Australian thermal coal at Newcastle Port, the benchmark for the vast Asian market, has climbed 106% this year to more than $166 per metric ton, according to the latest weekly assessment by commodity price provider Argus.
The Newcastle weekly index, which stood at a 2020 low of $46.18 in early September, now appears to be closing in on an all-time high of $195.20 from July 2008. Its South African equivalent, the Richards Bay index, ended the week through to Aug. 13 at $137.06 per metric ton, up more than 55% this year.
To put thermal coal’s remarkable rally into some context, international benchmark Brent crude is one of few assets to have recorded comparable gains this year. The oil contract is up 33% year-to-date.
The resurgence of thermal coal, which is burned to generate electricity, raises serious questions about the so-called “energy transition.” To be sure, coal is the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel in terms of emissions and therefore the most important target for replacement in the pivot to renewable alternatives.
Yet, as policymakers and business leaders repeatedly tout their commitment to the demands of the deepening climate emergency, many still rely on fossil fuels to keep pace with rising power demand.
It comes shortly after the world’s leading climate scientists delivered their starkest warning yet about the speed and scale of the climate crisis. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s landmark report, published Aug. 9, warned a key temperature limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius could be broken in just over a decade without immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
U.N. Secretary-General, António Guterres, described the report’s findings as a “code red for humanity,” adding that it “must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels before they destroy our planet.”
Earlier this year, Guterres pushed for all governments, private companies and local authorities to “end the deadly addiction to coal” by scrapping all future global projects. The move to phase out coal from the electricity sector was “the single most important step” to align with the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement, he said.
Outlook for thermal coal prices
Yulia Buchneva, director in natural resources at Fitch Ratings, told CNBC that thermal coal remains a key global energy source, noting the commodity still has a more than 35% share in global power generation.
“We expect that the share of coal in energy generation will decline driven by the energy transition agenda, however this will have a rather longer-term impact on the market. In the medium-term demand for coal in emerging markets with less strict environmental agenda, in particular in India, Pakistan, and Vietnam, where coal-fired power dominates generation, is expected to rise,” Buchneva said.
By comparison, Buchneva said that since the U.S. and EU account for only 10% of worldwide demand for coal, an expected contraction in these regions would have a limited impact on the global market.
When asked whether thermal coal prices could push even higher in the coming months, Buchneva replied: “The current high thermal coal prices have decoupled from costs and are therefore not sustainable. We expect that prices will normalize during the remainder of the year.”
Fitch Ratings assumes the price of high energy Australia coal will decline toward $81.
A bucket-wheel reclaimer stands next to a pile of coal at the Port of Newcastle in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020.
David Gray | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Energy analysts cited a variety of reasons for thermal coal’s breakneck rally. These included rebounding power demand in China, Beijing’s informal ban on coal imports from Australia, supply disruptions in Australia, South Africa and Colombia, and rising global gas prices.
For the latter, analysts at Argus said Europe had incurred unseasonably low gas storages, weak liquified natural gas imports and modest pipeline imports from Russia. It has coincided with gas prices rising more sharply than coal and thus led to an increased incentive to burn coal at the expense of gas for power generation.
“Coal as an expensive substitute, especially in Europe given the need to buy pollution offsets via emission futures, is likely to continue into the winter period,” Ole Hansen, head of commodities research at Saxo Bank, told CNBC via email.
“This in response to low gas stock levels both in the US and Europe following a high demand season driven by extreme heat and economic activity,” he continued. “All in all, coal is in demand despite raised focus on climate change.”
Hansen said this was simply due to the lack of supplies from coal’s biggest competitor: natural gas.
Financing coal projects to become more difficult
“I’m reluctant to get into how this is going to continue to play out over the next few months. I think things are fairly fluid in terms of the impact of the virus on various economies and it doesn’t take much of a slowdown for things to really start impacting a commodity like coal,” Seth Feaster, energy data analyst at IEEFA, a non-profit organization, told CNBC via telephone.
“One thing I can say is that prices have been very volatile. And from a U.S. perspective, when coal companies talk about exports being their savior, we find that pretty suspect because volatility makes it very difficult for coal companies to have any kind of long-term plan around thermal coal exports.”
Smoke and steam rises from the Bayswater coal-powered thermal power station located near the central New South Wales town of Muswellbrook, New South Wales, in Australia.
David Gray | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Feaster said that while some countries appeared hesitant to move away from coal, it is becoming “abundantly clear” that financing for coal projects is drying up. “It is going to be very difficult going forward to fund any kind of new power projects for coal,” he continued.
“I think that that’s really going to become a pariah around the world for anybody to finance coal projects. It is going to become more expensive and more difficult.”
Your next camping trip is about to get an upgrade. Kia just dropped two new electric van concepts based on the PV5. With AI-powered home appliances like a refrigerator and microwave, and even a wine cellar, Kia’s new PV5 “Speilraum” is an electric van built for camping and more.
Meet the Kia PV5 Spielraum: An electric van for camping
Kia wasn’t lying when it said its first electric van would offer something for everyone. At the 2025 Seoul Mobility Show on Thursday, Kia and LG Electronics unveiled two new electric van concepts based on the PV5.
The Spielraum electric vans are built for more than just getting you from one place to another. With LG’s AI-powered home appliances, custom interiors, and a wine cellar, the Speilraum models take the PV5 to the next level.
Kia unveiled two new concept vans, the Spielraum Studio and Spielraum Glow cabin. For those wondering, the term Spielraum is German for “Play Space” or leeway. In other words, Kia is giving you more freedom to move.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
The Studio version is designed as a mobile workspace with LG appliances like smart mirrors and a coffee pot. Using AI, the system can actually determine how long your trip will take and will recommend when to use the appliances.
Even more exciting (at least for the vanlifers out there), the Glow cabin converts the PV5 into a mobile camper van.
With a refrigerator, microwave oven, and added wine cellar (you know, for those long trips), Kia’s electric van is sure to upgrade your next camping trip.
Kia PV5 Spielraum Glow cabin electric camping van concept (Source: Kia)
Kia and LG signed an MOU and plan to launch production versions of the Spielraum electric vans in the second half of 2026. The South Korean companies are also developing a new series of advanced home appliances and other AI solutions that could be included in the vans when they arrive.
The PV5 will initially be available in Passenger, Cargo, and Chassis Cab setups. However, Kia plans to introduce several new versions, including a Light Camper model.
Kia and LG Electronics unveil two new PV5 Spielraum concepts (Source: Kia)
At 4,695 mm long, 1,895 mm wide, and 1,899 mm tall, the Kia PV5 passenger electric van is slightly smaller than the European-spec Volkswagen ID.Buzz (4,712 mm long, 1,985 mm wide, 1,937 mm tall).
With the larger 71.2 kWh battery pack, Kia’s electric van offers up to 400 km (249 miles) of WLTP driving range. It can also fast charge (10% to 80%) in about 30 mins to get you back on the road.
Kia will launch the PV5 in Europe and Korea later this year, with a global rollout scheduled for 2026. Ahead of its official debut, we got a closer look at the PV5 on public roads last month (check it out here).
Would you take the PV5 Spielraum Glow cabin for camping? Or are you going with the Studio version? Let us know in the comments.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Tesla Cybertruck owners are starting to get the fix for the truck’s recent recall related to a falling trim. The fix is ridiculous for a $80,000-$100,000 vehicle as it leaves a weld burn and a panel gap.
While the reason was not confirmed at the time, we reported that we suspected that it was a problem with the cantrail, a decorative trim that covers the roof ledge of a vehicle. For the Cybertruck, it consists of the highlighted section below:
A week later, Tesla announced that it recalled all Cybertrucks ever made over an issue with the cantrail: it is falling off the Cybertruck.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
Now, some Tesla Cybertruck owners are starting to receive the “fix” for the recall, but it is quite disappointing for what is a $80,000 to $100,000 vehicle.
A Cybertruck owner in New Jersey was already having issues with his cantrail and had to have his tent system installed, so his truck was already at the service center when the recall happened. He was given back his truck with the fix, but he was disappointed with the results, which left a mark on the cantrail and a significant panel gap. He shared pictures via the Cybertruck Owners Club:
According to the recall notice, the fix is as simple as removing the trim, applying some butyl patches, and reapplying the trim with two new nuts to secure it.
In the case of this Cybertruck, the new nut is leaving a significant gap on the chassis that Tesla should never have felt acceptable to deliver to a customer.
As for the burn or rust mark, the owner speculated that it was a weld mark as they weld the new nut, but there’s no welding required in the fix. Therefore, it’s not clear what happened, but there’s clearly a mark where the new nut is located.
Here’s a video of the process:
Electrek’s Take
Tesla is lucky. Many of its owners, especially with newer vehicle programs, like the Cybertruck, are early adopters who don’t mind dealing with issues like this.
However, this is a $80,000 to $100,000 vehicle, and most people expect a certain level of service with those vehicles.
You can’t have a remedy for a manufacturing defect that results in panel gaps and marks like this. It shouldn’t be acceptable, and Tesla shouldn’t feel good about giving back a vehicle like that to a customer.
On top of all of this, this is a pain for Cybertruck owners with wraps. They are going to have to rewrap the trim and it doesn’t look like Tesla is going to cover that.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
As crypto prices rallied to record highs last year, venture investors piled into new bitcoin-related startups.
The number of pre-seed transactions in the market climbed 50% in 2024, according to a report published Thursday from Trammell Venture Partners. The data indicates that more entrepreneurs entered the bitcoin arena despite a cautious funding environment for the broader tech startup universe.
Bitcoin more than doubled in value last year, while ethereum rose by more than 40%. Early in the year, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved exchange-traded funds that invest directly in bitcoin and then extended the rule to ethereum, moves that brought a wider swath of investors into the market. The rally picked up steam in late 2024 after Donald Trump’s election victory, which was heavily funded by the crypto industry.
The early-stage startup boom dates back several years. According to the Trammell report, the number of pre-seed deals in the bitcoin-native category soared 767% from 2021 to 2024. Across all early-stage funding rounds, nearly $1.2 billion was invested during the four-year period.
“With four consecutive years of growth at the earliest stage of bitcoin startup formation, the data now confirm a sustained, long-term venture category trend,” said Christopher Calicott, managing director at Trammell, in an interview.
Venture capital broadly has been slow to rebound from a steep drop that followed a record 2021. Late that year, inflation started to jump, which led to increased interest rates and pushed investors out of risky assets. The market bounced back some in 2024, with U.S. venture investment climbing 30% to more than $215 billion from $165 billion in 2023, according to the National Venture Capital Association. The market peaked at $356 billion in 2021.
Trammell’s research focuses on companies that build with the assumption that bitcoin is the monetary asset of the future and use the bitcoin protocol stack to develop their products.
Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro
The numbers weren’t universally positive for the industry. Across all rounds as high as Series B, the total capital raised declined 22% in 2024.
But Calicott said he’s looking at the longer-term trend and the increase in the number of pre-seed deals. He said the renewed interest in building on blockchain is largely due to technical upgrades and increased confidence in bitcoin’s long-term resilience.
“Serious people no longer question whether bitcoin will remain 15 or 20 years into the future,” he said. “So the next question becomes: Is it possible to build what the founder is trying to achieve on bitcoin? Increasingly, the answer is yes.”
Trammell has been investing in bitcoin startups since 2014 and launched a dedicated bitcoin-native VC fund series in 2020. Its portfolio includes companies like Kraken, Unchained, Voltage and Vida Global.
Recent reports show momentum in crypto startup funding more widely. In February, crypto VC deals topped $1.1 billion, according to data and analytics firm The Tie.
PitchBook forecasts that crypto VC funding will surpass $18 billion in 2025, nearly doubling the $9.9 billion annual average from the 2023 to 2024 cycle. The firm expects greater institutional engagement from firms like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs to deepen investor trust and catalyze further capital inflows.
Joe McCann, a former software developer, is launching his third venture fund, and said this one will be “exclusively focused on consumer apps in crypto.”
He draws a direct parallel to the internet’s early days.
“In the 1990s, VCs were investing in physical infrastructure,” said McCann, who runs Asymmetric, a digital asset investment firm managing two hedge funds and two early-stage venture capital funds, with $250 million under management. “Ten years later, it was Groupon, Instagram, Facebook — apps built on top. That’s where we are with Web3 right now.”