Fighting for
Market Share
The Evolution of Coal
JENNIFER JETT PREZKOP
JASON BOSTIC
When one stops to consider the impact coal has had on the
development of the modern world, it is hard to imagine where
civilization would be without this fossil fuel. More than heat-
ing homes and providing electricity, coal has inspired—and
driven—innovation in other industries such as transportation,
steel production and manufacturing throughout history.
Coal is extremely susceptible to market influences from
around the world, and as such it is forced through a period of
evolution about once every 30 years. Changes in policy and
fluctuations in demand for goods like steel put additional
burden on an industry that has faced out-right challenges to
its mere existence in recent years. Despite downturns in pro-
duction, a movement toward natural gas and the challenge of
achieving a cleaner product, the industry continues to evolve,
confirming its relevance in today’s world market.
Despite the ups and downs of demand and the arguments
against the use of this fossil fuel, coal has persevered, re-in-
venting itself time and again to match industry needs in order
to find new market relevance for continued demand. Looking
back through history, the cycles of evolution undergone by
the coal industry are a fascinating study in persistence. Where
there is a will, there is a way, as they say, and the coal industry
continues to evolve with the times, finding new markets and
new relevance as a feedstock and energy source.
The Cycles of Coal
The first major shift in the coal industry was the mechani-
zation of mining, which took place after World War II. The
new technology and processes that came with mechanization
in the 1930s and 1940s resulted in more efficient production
and safer work conditions. At the same time, the U.S. experi-
enced the rise of a new industrial era: steel.
“We were making a whole lot of steel to build the world’s
strongest nation, and steel became our steady market,” says
Jason Bostic, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Associ-
ation. “Metallurgical coal became the natural solution. It has
very specific chemical properties and can be heated to very high
temperatures without burning, shedding its volatile properties
and turning it into almost pure carbon.”
In the 1950s and 1960s, the railroads transitioned from
coal to diesel gas to fuel their trains. Around the same time,
the home heating industry switched from coal to heating
oil. This forced the coal industry to seek out a new purpose:
fueling heavy industry through the production of high-quality
thermal coal for baseload power generation. This was a piv-
otal move at a time when the nation was electrified with the
construction of new coal-fired power plants.
The 1970s and 1980s brought the collapse of the steel industry,
triggered by the rise of foreign steelmakers like Germany, Japan
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