Coal is Now Cheaper Than Water

Writing for the Australian Financial Review, Angus Grigg wrote that coal in China is now cheaper than water.
As quoted in the publication:

Prices hit a record low on Tuesday, dropping to 411 yuan a tonne on the benchmark Bohai Bay Coal Index. Prices are 52 per cent below their peak in November 2011.
Coking coal, used in steel making, is also at a record low, trading at 680 yuan a tonne.
On an equivalent basis this means coking coal is cheaper than water, which is price around 1000 yuan a tonne (1,000 litres).
In early 2013 a tonne of coking coal and the equivalent amount of water were similarly prices, before the end of the resources boom saw coking coal prices halve.
In July research house Platts caused a sensation by noting a tonne of hot rolled steel was worth less than the equivalent amount of white cabbage and had been for some time.

Click here for the full article from the Australian Financial Review.