Star Tribune: In 2011, the coal industry went on a shopping spree. Chinas economy was humming, and there seemed no limit to the amount of coal the countrys steel mills could consume. Americas coal companies, sensing an opportunity, rushed to acquire mines that produced the metallurgical coal essential to steel fabrication.
Arch Coal paid $3.4 billion cash for the International Coal Group. Peabody Energy plunked down $5 billion for a majority stake in Australias MacArthur Coal. And Alpha Natural Resources...