Washinton — US coal producers are seeking to boost exports to cash in on soaring prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but face big headwinds including shipping bottlenecks, labour shortages and a dismal long-term outlook discouraging investment in new mines.
“The ability of US companies to respond [to the price rally] has been limited by logistics challenges, like most industrial activity at the moment,” said Ted O’Brien, managing partner and chief commercial officer at Oluma Resources, a Pittsburgh-based marketer of the fuel, citing clogged railroads, labour shortages and the unavailability of new equipment.
US coal production year to date is up 3.8% from the same period in 2021 at about 203.7-million short tonnes, according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration , marking a slight recovery from the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic when output hit the lowest level since 1965. But an industrywide expansion of exports is unlikely to happen quickly as few companies have new mines coming and most new investments are going towards sustaining output from ageing facilities, said O’Brien of Oluma.