US coal prices unaffected by last two presidential elections: Platts data
Houston (Platts)--8 Nov 2016 456 pm EST/2156 GMT
For the vast majority in the US coal industry, choosing who to
vote for in Tuesday's presidential election was easy: pick pro-coal
Donald Trump over anti-coal Hillary Clinton.
And while the next president's policies will likely have a long-term
effect on coal prices, the last two presidential elections have had
no immediate impact on the market.
In the last eight years, prompt-month over-the-counter market prices
have been driven by seasonal shifts, not by who wins the White
House, even with President Barack Obama taking both elections.
Normally, coal prices rise in the summer as utilities work to build
up stockpiles in advance of the winter then begin to dip in the
fall, during the November election, as demand drops.
In 2012, Central Appalachia barge OTC coal began November at
$59.50/st and strengthened slightly to $61.60/st by month's end
before ending the year at $58.05/st.
Central Appalachian rail (CSX) OTC coal started November 2012 at
$66.15/st, ended the month at $64.70/st and finished the year at
$61.70/st.
PRB 8,800 OTC coal started November 2012 at $9.85/st, ended the
month at $9.35/st but then moved higher, finishing the year at
$10.10/st.
In 2008, the election came after a huge boom in the coal industry
that saw CAPP barge and CSX pricing rise to all-time highs before
they began to decline months before the election.
CAPP barge started 2008 at $56.35/st then ballooned to $143.25/st on
July 1 before gradually declining into the fall and through the
winter as the market corrected. CAPP barge began November at
$87.15/st, ended the month at $78.35/st and the year at $63.90/st.
CSX mirrored that pattern, starting the year at $51.35/st before
climbing to $160.60/st on July 1. CSX began November at $93.50/st,
ended the month at $75.65/st and then the year at $63.90/st.
PRB 8,800 coal started November 2008 at $10.20/st, ended the month
at $10.20/st and the year at $13.45/st.
--Jim Levesque,
jim.levesque@spglobal.com
--Edited by Keiron Greenhalgh,
keiron.greenhalgh@spglobal.com
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