Coal boomed in first-half 2017. Does that mean coal is back? U.S. coal volumes, dominated by steam (utility) coal, were up 18 percent through June. Of course, it was against easy comparisons, and June numbers were "only" up 13 percent. By early July, they were closer to flat. Export coal - a low volume/high margin product with a high exposure to the thermal (steel) markets - also was up big in the first half due to a surprising surge in Chinese demand (even if that isn't the U.S. product's end market) and weather issues in Australia. What is the sustainability of this boom? How can we separate the hype ("50,000 coal miner jobs created" - it was more like 1,000) from reality?
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