While many have blamed the downturn in the U.S. coal industry on cheap natural gas supplanting coal and tougher environmental regulations, the slide in metallurgical coal demand has been equally devastating. Coal companies were caught flat-footed after ramping up production last year with the expectation that steep prices would cover their rising costs, despite coal's past cyclicality. Instead, demand in China began to falter just as Australian metallurgical coal production─interrupted by floods last year─surged back into the market.
很多人将美国煤炭产业的不景气归咎于廉价的天然气取代了煤炭,以及环保监管越来越严格。然而焦煤需求下滑带来的打击也同样沉重。去年煤炭企业不顾以往本行业的周期性特征,仍指望价格的大幅上涨盖过成本的上升,所以扩大生产。结果中国的需求慢了下来,同时受去年洪灾破坏的澳大利亚焦煤生产迅速恢复供应,让他们措手不及。
In July, Patriot Coal Corp. of St. Louis filed for bankruptcy protection, shortly after it lost a contract for coal bound for an Asian steelmaker. Patriot's stock slid 18% the day after it announced that news, taking other coal stocks down with it. Earlier this month, Patriot said it would temporarily idle metallurgical coal operations at three mining complexes in southern West Virginia and lay off 250 miners, in addition to 1,000 layoffs earlier this year. On top of that, Patriot has said it will need to reduce 'unsustainable' pension and health benefits to 2,000 miners and some 20,000 retirees and surviving spouses.
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2020-09-15
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