Getting your player ready...
A global consolidation of the coal industry is shifting into overdrive. Mining giant Teck Cominco said Tuesday it will buy up all of the Fording Canadian Coal Trust for close to $14 billion in cash and stock.
The deal is just the latest in a growing string of giant acquisitions centered on coking coal, a key raw material for certain steel mills.
Coking-coal prices have gained more than 50 percent since April 1 to $250 a ton or more, driven by tight supplies and demand from China, India, Russia, Europe and Brazil.
