New York – The price of coal mined in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin surged to record highs last week, as electric utilities bid aggressively in the market to make up for shipments lost by a host of problems that have dogged coal producers and railroads since May.
Most recently, torrential rains in Kansas at the beginning of October washed away hundreds of feet of track on Union Pacific Corp.’s lines near Topeka and damaged several rail bridges. The disruption caused a backup more than 100 trains long – many of them carrying Wyoming coal – and caused several utilities to run dangerously low on supplies.
The price of Wyoming coal for delivery in 2006 rose 11 percent last week. Next year’s coal is trading around $15.45 a ton, up from $10 in mid-July.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
