Did natgas' ability to crack 'glass floor' offer preview of what is in store for steam coal market?

摘要

Coal has taken the gas in 2009, and it hasn't made anyone giggle. "The steam coal guys are dying," one producer said. For the first time since 2002, August 20, the front month natgas futures price ducked below three bucks, making it increasingly difficult for coal to drive a wedge between utilities and the economics of idling coal power capacity. The market "literally broke through a glass floor on gas and came through," a utility source said. "We believe that as we move further into the injection season and full storage well before November becomes a reality, gas prices could hit troughs at the 2.25 dollars to 2.50 dollars range, which would represent the marginal cost to produce gas," Simmons & Company said in its Natural Gas Weekly Review.