Source: Financial Times, 6th September 2010

Naughty boys and girls in the US who got only a lump of coal in their Christmas stockings over the past few years have had insult added to injury - coal's price dropped sharply during the downturn. Those receiving the Appalachian variety, which enjoys a hefty price premium to western coal from the Powder River Basin, seemed to do better. With high transport costs, PRB producers saw the sharpest effective price declines in the recession. Now there are reasons to be bullish.