It ain't love, but it ain't bad: Industrial coal markets give suppliers a bit of reason for hope

摘要

The old phrase "a half loaf is better than none" is a good one for coal producers who supply coal to the smaller industrial buyers to remember. According to a producer who does a lot of business with industrial accounts, action is better than it was during the last half of 2009, but still isn't close to where it was before the recession/collapse/whatever it was of late 2008. The good news: Yep, some companies are back in the market for coal. The bad news: Not all of the reasons have to do with an improving economy in the U.S. Take the paper plants. While they have weathered the economic chaos better than a lot of businesses, the recent surge in paper plant coal burning has little to do with economic health.