GILLETTE - While several other coal-producing areas of the nation experienced a significant production downturn in 2003, Wyoming's Powder River Basin showed its vigor by grabbing a larger chunk of the market and setting another annual production record.

Thirteen active mines in the basin shipped approximately 363.4 million tons of coal in 2003 compared to 359.5 million tons in 2002, according to a Star-Tribune survey. Statewide, mines shipped a total 376.3 million tons of coal in 2003 compared to 372.8 million tons in 2002.

The 2003 figures are a conservative estimate, with coal totals rounded down to the nearest 100,000 tons of coal. The State Mine Inspector's Office will finalize the coal production figures sometime in March.

"For Wyoming to hold its own is good because that means, in a down-year, generation demand for (Powder River Basin) coal must have taken a little extra (market) share away from the rest of the country," said Andy Roberts of Platts Research & Consulting.

Roberts said Kentucky, southern West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Illinois Basin recorded reductions between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2003, and coal production in the nation overall was likely down about 2 percent.

Terry Wilkerson, manager of Triton's Buckskin mine north of Gillette, said that although production at that mine was down to 17.5 million tons in 2003 from 18.3 million tons in 2002, the mine is gearing up for a more productive year in 2004.

"The plan for production 2004 is 20 million tons," Wilkerson said. "The market seems to be stabilizing and prices are gradually going up, so things look good for the coal industry."

Peabody Energy's North Antelope Rochelle mine produced 80.1 million tons of coal in 2003 - a record for a single mine in Wyoming, the United States and perhaps the world, said Peabody spokesman Vic Svec.

That's approximately 6 percent of total coal production in the United States.

"The coal from North Antelope Rochelle would have represented enough trainloads to reach from Los Angeles to Boston and back again," Svec said. "That's 6,800 miles of railcars."

In 1999, Peabody combined the North Antelope and Rochelle mines into one operation. The mine has been the largest single coal producer since, marking 70.7 million tons in 2000, and 74.8 million tons in 2001 and 2002.

Peabody expects its corporate-wide coal production in 2004 to be between 190 million tons and 200 million tons versus about 180 million tons in 2003, Svec said.

"You could expect a good amount of that increase to come from our Wyoming mines," Svec said.

Peabody's Caballo mine produced 22.7 million tons in 2003, and its Rawhide mine produced 3.7 million tons.

Roberts said the national coal market was relatively stagnant in 2003, and the industry as a whole is expected to make big strides toward recovery. An upturn in the national economy is one factor, and spiking natural gas prices is another.

"It's our opinion that coal prices rise when gas prices do, but after a period of lag time," Roberts said. "In the East, for example, you're already seeing an increase in prices that have begun to follow the gas prices upward, and that's probably going to happen in the West, too."

Spot prices for 8,800 British thermal heating unit (Btu) value coal in the Powder River Basin was near $7 per ton in 2003, and about $6 per ton for the basin's 8,400 Btu coal, Roberts said.

"I would expect those prices to go up in the next year - at least in the first part of the year."

The challenge for Powder River Basin coal mines is that they typically have more production tied up in long-term contracts and can only cash in a fraction of their production on high spot prices. Another challenge is that the basin is approaching shipping capacity on the rail lines that deliver the coal out of the area, Roberts said.