Coal markets were mixed in the week with each region impacted by individual buying decisions and market dynamics that prevented the US or international coal markets from acting as a whole. In the heavily traded Central Appalachian and Powder River Basin markets, coal buyers piled on with new demand and bid the market higher, with interest in Western coal bringing the PRB market back to life. The long-moribund PRB market has been rising in recent days, with a return of volume matching price increases across the forward pricing curve. In the Uinta Basin and Green River Basin markets, demand was also seen returning after a period in which coal buyers held off from the region because of rail problems, and both Nevada Power and Mississippi Power are currently in the market for Colorado-Utah supply.
展开▼
