Falling prices, demand lead to negative outlook for North American coal: Moody's

http://www.chemnet.com   Oct 02,2015 Platts

　　The outlook for the North American coal industry remains "negative" as the prices for both metallurgical and thermal coal remain low and consumption continues to drop, Moody's Investors Service said in a report Thursday.

　　"Spot coal prices remain weak across all US coal basins due to reduced consumption and low natural gas prices," Anna Zubets-Anderson, a Moody's vice president and senior analyst, said in a statement. "Unless there is a recovery, miners' profitability will continue to decline as higher-priced contracts roll off."

　　Analysts predict a roughly 10% year-on-year decline in the industry's EBITDA for 2016, following a 25% drop in 2015.

　　Moody's said the Clean Power Plan will have a big impact on the thermal industry as coal's share of generation will decline toward 30% during the next decade from 39% in 2014.

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