Please note the change of date for the monthly KVMI Meeting initially set for February 2 has now been moved to Thursday, February 9 to avoid conflict with the WV Mining Symposium.

Dow Jones Newswires

CSX Corp. (CSX) executives forecast continued strong U.S. coal exports in 2012, although they said the railroad's coal shipments likely will be down overall because of slack demand from domestic electric utilities.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/01/24/csx-executives-forecast-strong-demand-for-us-coal-exports-in-2012/#ixzz1krvYNhUZ

According to the EIA’s weekly energy report, domestic coal production continues to trend slightly upward, rising approximately 0.2 percent for the 52 weeks ending January 14, with a total of 1.08 billion tons produced for the period. The nation’s coal mines produced 21.1 million tons for the week of January 7-14.  The number of rail cars loaded also increased, by 3.2 percent, from 133 thousand cars to 137 thousand.

Metallurgical coal exports continued to lead the way, up 54 percent from this time last year. However steam coal sales slumped, down 13 percent.

In West Virginia, coal production continued to be up slightly as measured year over year, up 0.5 percent, on production of 136 million tons for the 52 weeks ending January 14. Last year’s production total was 133 million tons. Northern West Virginia coal production led the way, increasing 1.9 percent for the period, while production in the southern West Virginia coalfields fell 0.1 percent.

With the January 28 filing deadline now only eight days away, the field is filling for the May 8 West Virginia primary election. In the presidential race only GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney has filed along with two lesser-known candidates.

Senator Joe Manchin has filed to run for a full six year term. Manchin’s opponent in last year’s special election, John R. Raese has also filed, setting up a rematch.

The 2011 edition of Coal Facts is now available at the offices of the West Virginia Coal Association. The annual publication features an overview of key coal production, employment, distribution, consumption and tax data for both West Virginia and the nation. It also features pieces on reclamation and restoration of former mine land, post-mine land use, overviews of the history of coal in our state and the permitting process. Copies will be in the mail shortly and can be picked up at the WV Coal Association offices in Charleston.