Forward thinking: coal supply and demand roughly in balance

摘要

A sign that coal producers are beginning to be effective with production cuts, "supply and demand are roughly in balance" at this point, according to a Wall Street analyst. The week ended October 7 "was the first week of coal production below 22 million tons in a non-holiday week since March," Paul Forward of Stifel Nicolaus noted. Forward estimates that overall U.S. coal demand averages 22 million tons through the course of a year. U.S. coal production was up 2.0 percent year over year during the week, to 21.9 million tons. Eastern coal production was up 2.4 percent y/y for the week. It is up 2.6 percent year-to-date. Western coal production was up 1.7 percent y/y. It is up 2.6 percent YTD.