U.S. Coal Mining Reaches 16-Month High
- Power producers switch to coal as natural gas prices rise
- More coal moved by railcar than at any time since 2017
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Cold weather and a hot natural gas market helped drive U.S. coal production to the highest in 16 months.
Output rose to an estimated 15.9 million short tons in the week ending Dec. 22, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Thursday. That’s the highest since Aug. 25, 2017. The amount of coal shipped by rail, which closely tracks production, reached the highest since Sept. 1, 2017.