US metallurgical coal producers see long-term demand opportunities tied to global steelmaking growth, but pointed to geopolitical instability and tariff uncertainty as challenges for the industry.
Executives at the Metallurgical Coal Producers Association annual conference on May 20 underscored the US met coal sector's reliance on global trade flows amid a combination of shifting tariff policies, trade wars and operational impacts from the war in the Middle East.
"I think uncertainty is bad for us, and the sooner we get to the other side of some of these things, the more likely the global economy will be ready to start dumping money into infrastructure projects," Andy Eidson, CEO of Tennessee-based Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc., said on a panel.
Eidson said shifting landscapes can be challenging for producers and that some stability would help the met coal industry thrive.
"All these things going on, this chaos from every corner, is not good for us because the people who use steel to build things tend to not spend the money, and they tend not to build things, when they don't know what the state of play is going to be," Eidson said.
The United States was the second-largest net exporter of met coal in the world in 2023, behind Australia, according to a March 2026 report from the US Geological Survey. The US exported about three-quarters of its domestic met coal production in 2024, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.
"We rely heavily on foreign policy and foreign relations," Allegheny Metallurgical CEO Perry Longacre said on the panel, pointing to the large US export market.
Metallurgical coal producers agreed that the conflict in the Middle East has led to higher shipping costs for coal exports stemming from the Strait of Hormuz closures, as well as higher diesel costs that affect operations.
Logistics costs have significantly increased, with freight differentials of around $40 between coal shipments from the US and Australia bound to Asia, Chris Anderson, general counsel for Pennsylvania-based producer Robindale Energy & Associated Companies, told Platts in an interview. Platts is a part of S&P Global Energy.
When it comes to tariffs, company executives also agreed that President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on steel imports, which aim to boost domestic manufacturing, have not benefited the met coal sector.
Tariffs and other trade protections, such as antidumping and countervailing duties, help producers that sell into the steel market domestically, but are not enough to fully support US met coal producers, Anderson said. This stems from a failure by other countries to enact similar policies, which has a negative effect on US met coal producers selling to markets such as South Korea, Europe, Japan and South America.
Adding a similar tariff on US coal imports would not benefit the sector because the US does not import met coal from other countries, Kipp Beaver, vice president of sales and marketing at Australia-based Coronado Global Resources Inc., said in an interview.
Beaver said he hoped to see a deal between the US and China emerge from Trump's recent visit to the country that would include a commitment from China to purchase US coal. Trump reached a similar deal during his first administration in 2020, with China agreeing to purchase $200 billion of US exports, including energy products.
Growth opportunities for US met coal
Despite geopolitical risks, met coal producers agreed that the expansion of steelmaking capacity in several countries could boost the US met coal industry.
They pointed to India, which is looking to increase steelmaking capacity with blast furnace production, as an opportunity for US met coal. Vietnam and Indonesia are also planning to increase steelmaking capacity with blast furnaces, and Europe is easing environmental, social and governance efforts, all of which could create more opportunities.
The Trump administration's focus on boosting domestic manufacturing is also seen as a growth area.
"If we are going to reshore manufacturing in the US, and in particular also in Europe, then that's where we'll shine," Longacre said on the panel. "If we're going to make America great again, it starts with America-made met coal."
Congress could also pass an infrastructure bill that would require steel and other components needed for met coal, Scott Kreutzer, executive vice president for western operations at Kentucky-based Ramaco Resources Inc., said on the panel. He also pointed to the construction of data centers as a source for construction demand.
"All of that is going to require us to mine more, produce more, process more in this country," Kreutzer said. "We have to develop this stuff internally and domestically so we're not reliant on countries that don't necessarily have the United States' best interest at heart."
