Economy Faced with tough global market, Alaska coal prospects bleak

A sagging global coal market is dragging down prospects for two proposed mines in Southcentral Alaska, according to Alaska Dispatch News.

Both the Chuitna and Wishbone Hill coal projects are intended to profit off coal consumption in Asia, but formerly promising markets in China, Japan and South Korea have slumped amid stricter pollution controls, cheaper natural gas, a slowdown in manufacturing and an oversupply of coal. In Asia, benchmark prices, general guidelines for the costs of global commodities, have fallen every year since 2011.