The next chart paints a dismal picture for coal. The U.S. hasn’t added any meaningful coal-based capacity since 2013. And we don’t expect much – if any – new capacity from here.
As we’ve said, it’s not going to get better in the U.S. over the next few years. Plain and simple, the use of coal to supply heat and electricity in the U.S. is in decline. Trump will not stop it. The rollback of the Clean Power Plan will not stop it. A Difficult Time for Coal Miners
Naturally, all this bad news has led to a bloodbath across the sector.
With coal use declining in the U.S., the costs of production increased. As costs increased, margins were squeezed and revenues declined. With these lost revenues, more and more coal companies needed to rely on debt to fund their operations and stay in business.
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