Washington, 2 October (Argus) — More than half of US coal production has come from just four producers over the past two years as part of a decades-long trend toward mining concentration among large operators, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.
Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources and Cloud Peak Energy supplied 52pc of production, or 575mn short tons (522mn metric tonnes), in 2011. Preliminary data for 2012 shows the four producers' share fell slightly but held above 50pc, EIA said today.
More than 500 companies supplied the remaining 48pc in 2011. By comparison, the fifth largest US coal producer, Consol Energy, produced 34mn st in 2012, 35pc less than fourth-placed Cloud Peak.
The top four companies' share has grown from 1990 and 1995, when they accounted for 22pc and 35pc of production, respectively.
Peabody has been the largest US coal miner for decades, and over the past 10 years its output grew by 56pc or 62mn st from 2000 to 2011, EIA said. Most of the growth is in large-scale Powder River basin (PRB) surface mines.
Arch's purchase of the Jacobs Ranch mine in 2009 solidified its second-place position. The seller of that mine was Rio Tinto, which held second place in 2008 before it sold its coal assets and spun off Cloud Peak.
Alpha leapfrogged from 14th place to fourth place in 2009 when it acquired Foundation Coal. In 2011 with its merger with Massey Coal, it boosted production by 44pc or 35mn st to put it in third place.
On a Btu basis, the top four producers had a 49pc share of US coal heat content because their production is heavily weighted toward lower-heat PRB coal.
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