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US coal consumption by the electric power sector in 2013 will grow by 60-80 million st over 2012 levels, based on strong first quarter demand figures, according to Peabody Energy. Data from the Energy Information Administration shows that US generators consumed 824.8 million st in 2012, and the agency forecasts that the sector will consume 885.2 million st in 2013.
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Gregory Boyce, CEO of Peabody Energy, said: “First quarter US coal demand saw strong improvement over the prior year as generators switch back to coal and away from higher priced natural gas in key regions. We now expect that during 2013, coal will recapture the vast majority of its 2012 demand that was lost to natural gas.”
Peabody said US coal demand rose 8 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, and accounted for about 40 per cent of total electricity generation. The company said that US natural gas prices are more than double the levels last year, leading to gas-to-coal switching that drove an 11 per cent decline in natural gas generation. Peabody said that the gas-to-coal trend accelerated in March, when US coal generation rose 15 per cent, while gas generation fell 16 per cent. It said that it expects sharply favourable year-over-year coal demand increases to continue in the second quarter, adding that coal shipments to utilities fell 10 per cent in the first quarter, leading to “an above average customer stockpile drawdown.”