The reaction coal sellers had to seeing the API 2 jump early in the month was sort of like being the fan of a bad football team that gets on a hot streak as the season's ending: it was fun to watch but it really didn't mean anything. As the number shot up over $98 a metric tonne, there was speculation that it would be enough to get coal flowing down to the Gulf and across the ocean to Europe. Surely there was going to be something there both for Central Appalachia and Illinois Basin producers. Then again, maybe not. According to one trader who does business in Europe, the number that got everybody excited was heavy on money going to transportation and short on money going for coal. By the time he had broken it down, anyone selling at 98 dollars/tonne would have had to been shipping coal bought at about 44 dollars a short ton at the mine.
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