Uncertainty remains the watchword for Illinois Basin coal buyers as they head into what tradi 

tionally is the fall buying season, sources said this week. 

Mild weather, along with weak power pricing, has tempered coal demand among buyers who 

are considering their options for the balance of the year, they say.

Even natural gas pricing, while higher than a year ago, is "still beating coal when run throug

h a combined-cycle" unit, a Midwest utility source said.

"Power pricing is not great and here in the greater Chicago area, summer is taking a break 

this week,"  the source said. "Renewables are still the story and are continuing to suppress 

power prices."

The  source  quoted  Illinois Basin prices "in the high $30s/st," but said that the prices were

more  indicative  and  could fall into the mid-$30s/st. "These still seem high to me given the 

fundamentals," he said.

A Kentucky utility buyer said he did not expect an increase in demand in the fourth quarter 

of the year with shoulder-season weather and demand "looming."

"Too many large units are preparing to idle or go into shut down," he said. "Not only coal jo

bs are being lost, so are coal-fired utility jobs."

Both Atlanta-based Southern Company and Florida-based Lakeland Electric reported burn 

on level with projections. A Southern buyer said he expects to have a request for proposals 

out for bituminous coal "in the next few weeks."

Lakeland buyer Tory Bombard said the utility will probably issue a tender for low sulfur coal

in Q4 for its 2018 needs.

With  pockets  of  interest  from  utilities  varying  by geography, Illinois Basin producers are 

keeping an eye out for possible spot purchases.

'DOG DAYS OF SUMMER'

"It's the dog days of summer," a producer source said.

Duke  Energy has been quiet, but the source said he expects Duke to "maybe" issue a spot 

solicitation for Q4 and into 2018, 2019 and possibly 2020 by early September. Duke was no

t available for comment Friday.

Another  large  southeastern  utility is still evaluating responses to a request for proposals it 

sent out earlier this summer, the source said.

S&P Global  Platts assessed Illinois Basin 11,500 Btu/lb low chlorine barge coal for prompt-

quarter  delivery  at $36/st, up 50 cents from last week's assessment, based on a survey of 

market sources.