By Chris Cooper and Kiyotaka Matsuda

Daiichi Chuo Shipping sees boom in US imports as increased use of shale gas frees coal for export

(Updates with closing share price in fifth paragraph.)

Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Daiichi Chuo Kisen Kaisha, a Tokyo- based shipping line, said it’s targeting a boom in coal exports from the U.S. as shale gas production frees up the fuel for sales overseas. The shares jumped the most in three years.

“Exports of coal from the U.S. could easily double in the next three or four years,” Saburo Koide, president of the company, said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday. “We’ve already had several inquiries on shipping coal from there,” he said, declining to name potential customers.