North America coal short-term outlook August 2020: Supply and demand balance tightens earlier than expected

One of the hottest July’s on record resulted in coal-generation of 89.9 TWh. Coal stockpiles will decline by 13.5 Mst, to 137.2 Mst. Supply and demand in the North America coal market are moving into balance earlier than expected. Stockpiles have decreased but are not expected to improve further as coal producers look to ramp up production and make up volumes that were delayed in the first half of 2020. However, improvements in supply/demand balance will not yet prompt price movements as demand will soon reflect the approaching shoulder season.