Utilities attempt to weather storm of Pitt seam squeeze, Central Pennsylvania met exodus

摘要

While metallurgical coal market developments dominat-ed the past week's news, there continue to be shortages of Pittsburgh seam coal, and that is putting pressure on buyers in the Northeast. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that substantial volumes of Central Pennsylvania coal are chasing the met market. It's feast or famine in Central PA, and at the moment, producers are eating well. Such utilities as Allegheny Power, FirstEnergy, PPL and Reliant Energy are among those apparently squeezed by tight conditions in Northern Appalachia. Most sources agree that any significant inventory pressure in the U.S. is centered on power plants in the Northeast.