The new administration in Washington is more accommodating to the use of coal as a fuel than the prior regime coal production is at sensible levels, and, to top it all off for coal sellers, utility coal inventories are continuing to slip. The federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week that inventories ol coal held by US power generators have continued to decline, registering a 20 percent drop between November 1999 and November 2000. By the end of November. utility and non-utility generators had 111.5 million tons of coal on hand versus 140.2 million tons at the end of November 1999. High coal inventories in early 2000 helped to depress US coal prices early in the year, and the decline in coal inventories appears to now be working in the sellers' favor.
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