Market News MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ?€" Coal-mining stocks dropped sharply on Friday on Patriot Coal Corp.'s plans for a big production cut, and on persistently low prices for natural gas, which competes with coal for use by power plants.
Patriot said the cuts
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Natural gas prices are at historic lows as U.S. supplies have grown more than expected. That has prompted some energy producers to switch power plants to natural gas supplies instead of coal. Patriot shares fell $1.15, or 13 percent, to $7.85 in afternoon trading. Peabody Energy Corp. shares dropped $1.83, or 4.9 percent, to $35.33, and Consol Energy Inc. was down $2.79, or 7.6 percent, to $33.79. Alpha Natural Resources fell $2.37, or 10.5 percent, to $20.18, and Arch Coal Inc. fell $1.67, or 10.7 percent, to $13.99. Penn Virginia Resources fell 43 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $26.11. Sterne Agee analyst Michael S. Dudas wrote that labor and other expenses for U.S. producers of metallurgical coal have increased sharply over the last two years. With prices coming down, production cuts will help coal prices find a floor, he wrote. Authors: mining - Yahoo! News Search Results Read more... http://news.yahoo.com/coal-mining-companies-drop-pricing-worries-192034142.html |