It has been a tough year for coal stocks as plummeting natural gas prices have seen demand for coal in the U.S. drop dramatically. Yet coal stocks have been on the upswing recently on strong foreign demand as Peabody Energy CEO Gregory Boyce last week stated that demand from China has seen strong growth in recent months. Five Star Equities examines the outlook for companies in the Coal Industry and provides equity research on James River Coal Company /quotes/zigman/93670/quotes/nls/jrcc JRCC +5.54% and Patriot Coal Corporation /quotes/zigman/485730/quotes/nls/pcx PCX +13.11% .
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"We project they will reach a record 285 million tons in 2012 as the country increasingly looks to the seaborne coal markets," said Boyce at a recent conference. "We expect global metallurgical coal use to increase 25 percent by 2016, translating to an additional 250 million tons of demand growth, with the bulk of increases led by China and India."
The demand for coal has also been rising in India as their production levels have failed to meet the country's growing demand. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy predicts that India's coal imports will rise 28 percent this fiscal.
