Making big deals in foreign lands
This agency crosses borders for U.S. goods
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In 2014, when fighting broke out in the eastern parts of Ukraine, much of the world was focused on the stakes for Russia, Europe and the United States.
But for a small electric utility based in Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev, the alarm quickly turned local: Fighting had blocked access to its precious coal mines used to power three plants.
The dilemma laid the groundwork for an agreement, three years later, with Latrobe-based Xcoal to supply 700,000 tons of Pennsylvania coal to Ukraine, parts of which are still controlled by pro-Russian separatists. The deal, announced last month, marks the first major shipment of U.S. coal destined for power plants in the restive country in Eastern Europe.
The deal showed how doors can openfor companies looking to export goods and services. It also raised the profile of the U.S. Commercial Service,a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce that works with thousandsof American companies to promote trade deals worth billions of dollarsevery year.
The coal sale — hailed by top government officials as a significant political achievement — came together behind the scenes relatively quickly, according to Commercial Service officials and some of the companies involved. And it was just one of the 14,000 export transactions organized by the service each year, mainly for small businesses working in industries such as agribusiness, education, environmental services and health
technologies.
“We’reall constantly on the lookout for opportunities, whether it’s demand-driven or having companies interested in finding new markets,” said Ryan Russell, one of three Pittsburgh-based senior international trade specialists with offices Downtown.
The Commercial Service employs a global network of more than 1,400 trade experts in 100 regional offices across the United States and in U.S. embassies and consulates in 75 countries around the world. It traces its origins to the early 1900s, when the industrial revolution led to increased flow of goods and services to other nations.
With the proliferation of international trade deals in the late 20th century — the U.S. has free trade agreements with 20 countries — the agency took on a more prominent role. Its commercial officers abroad are considered diplomats, which mean businesses have the ear of people stationed in any particular country.
“Being a part of the U.S. foreign government presence lends a lot of weight,” Mr. Russell said.
Coal for power
areas — and even coalfired pizza joints.
“This is a portion of the coal industry that has struggled, I think everyone would say that,” said Greg Driscoll, president and chief executive officer of Blaschak Coal Corp., based in Schuylkill County. Mr. Driscoll and some other anthracite mine owners first met with Centrenergo officials in June, a meeting that was set up by the Commercial Service.
“Their need was way beyond any one company here,” he said. Blaschak Coal sells about 350,000 tons of coal each year and employs 150 people.
Xcoal, one of the leading coal exporters in the country, ended up taking the lead in gathering the coal for the Ukraine deal, and Blaschak sent 4,000 tons in the first batch. The contract lasts through the end of this year.
Centrenergo now has direct contacts with XCoal, and the government is not directly involved anymore, Mr. Russell said.
Asking questions
Although the Commercial Service sometimes works in areas considered unstable, Mr. Russell said most companies are usually concerned only about possible disruptions to deliveries. Exporting The Commercial Service products is often no more has been keeping an eye on risky than selling them domestically, the opportunity to sell coal to he said, and there foreign countries for a while. are plenty of U.S.-backed and This year, foreign buyers private insurance policies have provided a boost to that cover losses due to political American coal as demand instability. fromU.S. power plants continues Businesses in the Pittsburgh to dry up.Pittsburgh region can reach out
In the first three months to the Commercial Service of this year, exports of coal through one of the trade specialists, are up about 58 percent compared who promote exports with the same period in specific industries. one year ago, according to a “Companies will come to Post-Gazette analysis of the us with questions about a particular most recent data gathered country’s political and by the U.S. Energy Information economic environment, what Administration. Firstquarter it’s like doing business there,” shipments of coal Mr.Russell said. specifically to foreign power One company that has frequent plants have more than doubled questions is Cranberrybased from the previous year Preservation Technologies, to 10 million tons. which produces a chemical
Centrenergo, the Ukrainian system that removes acid power utility, had approached from paper to preserve books U.S. embassy officials anddocuments. in Kiev in 2014 looking In addition to preserving for sources of coal. Centrenergo more than 4 million books could not be reached for and documents for the Library comment, but a media release of Congress, the company from September 2014 has seen heavy demand noted “numerous destructions from areas of the and damages of electrical world where current or future networks and infrastructure, conflict could threaten property and equipment records and archives. of coal mines, transportation It operates facilities in Slovenia, infrastructure.” South Africa, South
The United States was not Korea and other countries, selected to provide the first said James E. Burd, president batchof coal, but the Commercial and chief executive officer. Service — working alongside It is looking at expanding the U.S. Department of to China, Nigeria and Energy— stayed in touch. Qatar. Recently, it inked a
Centrenergo was specifically deal with a Russian company looking for anthracite, to move one of its facilities a type of coal produced on a from Spain to Moscow. small scale in eastern Pennsylvania. “My first phone call is always With a high carbon to those guys,” he said of content, it burns hotter than U.S. Commercial Service. bituminous coal — mined in “Weneed to sort out what’s going Western Pennsylvania — on in those countries, and but is less abundant and we can’t do it. We’re too costlier to mine. small.”
Today, anthracite survives on use primarily in steel mills, wastewater treatment plants, sugar beet refining, home heating in rural COAL, FROM G-1