According to the EIA’s latest weekly report, coal production nationwide continues to steepen its decline, down 0.8 percent while West Virginia’s weekly production has dropped 1.0 percent for the year ending 2/26/12. Compare that to just last week when nationwide production was down 0.5 percent while West Virginia’s coal production was down 0.8 percent year over year and two weeks ago when demand was off just 0.3 percent nationally and 0.5 percent for West Virginia year over year.
Two factors are causing the decline, a drop in demand as the nation’s utilities work through stockpiles of coal left from a mild winter and for met coal due to the economic uncertainties around the world, as well as regulatory uncertainty caused by the EPA’s on-going assault on coal.