By Tim Bradner
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Gov. Frank Murkowski will meet with Taiwan's President Chen Shui-Bien and Taiwanese industry leaders Nov. 15 in an effort to nudge along agreements to buy coal from Alaska.

The state signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan's government Sept. 16, setting up a framework for enhancing trade between Alaska and the island nation off China's coast

The agreement includes the possibility of Taiwanese power and manufacturing companies purchasing coal from the Beluga coal fields across Cook Inlet from Anchorage.

Murkowski's office also was notified Nov. 4 that Korea East West Power Co., which buys coal from the Usibelli coal mine in Interior Alaska, may extend its purchase contract for three years.

Usibelli's contract was to expire next year, but coal prices are increasing and Alaska's coal is now seen in Korea as competitive as other coal in the Pacific market, the governor's office was told by K.S. Kim, the state's trade representative in Korea.

Previously, coal from Indonesia and other producing regions in the Pacific could underbid Alaska for supply contracts.

Murkowski will stop in Taipei, Taiwan's capital, on the return leg of a trip to Bangkok, Thailand. The governor is chairman of the Council of State Governments, which is meeting in Bangkok. In Taipei, Murkowski will meet with officials from Formosa Plastics Co., China Steel Co. and other firms that import coal for use in manufacturing.

Since signing the agreement with the Taiwanese government, an industry group has been studying the Beluga coal field and its development prospects.

In a Nov. 4 interview, Murkowski said the Taiwan study group has expressed concerns in two areas, one being the lack of transportation infrastructure at Beluga to support coal exports, and the second the commercial feasibility of a coal-upgrading technology developed by KFx Inc., a Colorado company.

KFx has been working on a method of removing moisture from sub-bituminous coal in Wyoming and believes the technology, if it proves feasible, could also be applied to Beluga coal.

If the moisture were removed from the Alaska coal, its energy rating would be improved to the extent that it would compete with higher-rank bituminous coals, according to Ted Venners, president of KFx.

The company has built a pilot plant to demonstrate the technology in Gillete, Wyo. Venners said the first commercial-scale plant is now under construction, also in Gillette.

A sideshow in the Beluga coal effort has developed over disclosures that state Attorney General Greg Renkes owns stock in KFx. Tthe state has not extended financial assistance to the Beluga project, Renkes said he would sell his shares.

Meanwhile, Murkowski named Mike Barry, an Anchorage businessman who is chairman of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and the Alaska Energy Authority, to be the state of Alaska's representative on the trade relations team set up by the Sept. 16 agreement with Taiwan.