Recession resistant coal industry cuts back

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The ailing economy has left a big question mark hanging over the U.S. coal industry: will last year’s high-priced contracts and today’s declining costs be enough to offset rapidly falling world demand this year?

Already, mine operators have scaled back production plans for 2009, namely coking coal used for steelmill blast furnaces as manufacturing grounds to a halt.


Peabody Energy Corp., one of the world’s largest coal miners, said this week it was cutting its production in Wyoming and Australia because of the economic downturn.

Investors have pulled billions out of the market and coal companies have not been immune.

Wall Street analysts have lowered profit estimates and coal stocks as a group have fallen better than 70 percent since last July, when coal prices were at their peak.

Washington Post