Illinois Basin yield up in 1~(st) quarter, but near historic norm

摘要

On a basin-wide basis, Illinois Basin producers made some gains in the first quarter, producing 23.2 million tons when compared to the preceding three quarters. That's up almost 1 million tons from the preceding quarter but only 272,000 tons better than the first quarter of 2003, about normal when compared to production trends since 1997. Since 1997, the first quarter has always been the best quarter in the Illinois Basin. At 4.5 tons per manhour, productivity is about where it's been for the last year. In Illinois, first quarter production was 8.8 million tons, up from 7.8 million tons in the preceding quarter and 8.3 million tons in the prior year. Productivity improved to 4.3 tons per manhour for the quarter, but the four-quarter rolling average continued to hover around 4.0 tons per manhour.