Massey drove up production prior to West Virginia mine disaster

[Hannah Bell]

In mining industry journals, the Upper Big Branch disaster is the subject of much discussion as well — but for an entirely different reason. In the global market for coal, the mine has outsize importance. It produces top-quality, high-value metallurgical (or coking) coal... Prices for this kind of coal have risen sharply recently.

This raises an obvious question, which government investigators are almost certain to ignore: is there a link between the highly profitable coal mined at Upper Big Branch, the resultant drive for production by the company, and the lethal accident that took so many miners’ lives?

...In 2009, nearly two thirds of U.S. coking coal was exported...coking coal production began a sharp turnaround in late 2009 based on export demand. Globally, Appalachian and Australian coking coal are the only two major sources... China, the largest producer of coal in the world, lacks any domestic source of high-quality coking coal...the price of coking coal had risen from $129/ton in 2009 to over $200/ton prior to the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion and closure...

From the third to the fourth quarter of 2009, Massey nearly doubled production at the Upper Big Branch Mine....In response to the Upper Big Branch closure, Massey has announced it will attempt to make up production through operations at other mines... Following the industry pattern of contempt for safety standards, this drive for production creates the possibility for further disasters.


http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/coal-a17.shtml