In the past five years, at least eight publicly traded coal companies were bought in takeovers valued at $500 million or more, data compiled by Bloomberg show.Coal use in developing countries will climb 20 percent this decade as China and India account for most of the world''s increase, according to forecasts from the Department of Energy. Two-thirds of global coal consumption last year came from emerging economies.The worst floods in Australia''s history are exacerbating shortages after about 75 percent of the state of Queensland, the world''s largest producer of coking coal with a greater combined area than Texas, California and New York, was inundated by the natural disaster this year.Steelmakers in Asia may be forced to pay record prices as the floods push up costs 78 percent, according to Bank of America, while UBS is forecasting a "price spike" for metallurgical coal next quarter. Metallurgical or coking coal is an ingredient used to forge steel."More and more people are recognizing the need to control the assets themselves," rather than buying them from producers, said Wilbur Ross, the billionaire investor who built his fortune buying coal, steel and textile companies and serves as chief executive officer of New York-based WL Ross & Co.A total of 91 takeover offers for coal mining companies made since the start of last year are pending, data compiled by Bloomberg show. If completed, the deals would be valued at $30 billion including debt, exceeding the annual record of $28.5 billion in completed coal acquisitions in 2008."It''s a great time to be a seller," said Yemi Oshodi, a managing director of M&A and special situations trading at New York-based WallachBeth Capital. While Alpha Natural is the best suited to buy Massey, overall "these prices, to me, are high. I can''t justify these prices going forward," he said.