W.Va. Exports Up
Wheeling The Intelligencer
16 October 2013
By Casey Junkins, Staff Writer
WHEELING - West Virginia exported $7.4 billion worth of coal in
2012, meaning minerals extracted from local mines may be burned in
China or Brazil.
However, coal is but one of the many products West Virginia sends
to continents such as Asia, South America and Europe, according to
the state Development Office.
During the Tuesday Wheeling Economic Outlook Conference at Oglebay
Park, West Virginia University officials and other leaders
discussed the state of the local and national economies.
"Coal production is going to grow between now and 2040," said Don
Rigby, executive director of the Wheeling-based Regional Economic
Development Partnership. "The question is, 'Where is it going to
be burned?'"
Faced with ever-increasing environmental scrutiny in the U.S.,
coal producers can look abroad to sell their products. West
Virginia led the nation by exporting $7.4 billion in coal last
year, followed by Alabama with $1.7 billion, Pennsylvania with
$1.25 billion, Louisiana with $1.14 billion and Missouri with $680
million.
However, coal is far from all that West Virginia industries are
sending overseas. In fact, the dollar value of products made in
the Mountain State was $11.3 billion in 2012, up from $2.4 billion
in 2003.
To countries such as Chile, South Africa, Belgium, France, the
Netherlands and Ukraine, West Virginia exported $1 billion worth
of plastics last year. Other exported products include machinery,
chemicals, aerospace components, medical devices, automotive
parts, aluminum, wood products, electrical machinery and rubber
products.
Following months of review and consideration, Department of Energy
officials decided to allow Dominion Resources to export liquefied
natural gas to countries such as India and Japan.
Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion chairman, president and chief
executive officer, has said much of this gas will be drawn from
the Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling operations in Ohio and West
Virginia.