Total coal deliveries to US power plants plunged in April to their lowest in more than 13 years, data from the Energy Information Administration showed. According to the data, 30.02 million short tons (st) of coal were delivered to US power plants in April, down 13.5% from 34.71 million st in the prior month and 32.9% lower than 44.77 million st a year earlier.
Subbituminous coal deliveries to US power plants stood at 16.48 million st in April, compared to 18.89 million st in March and 24.38 million st in April 2019. Subbituminous coal deliveries in the first four months of 2020 stood at 80.71 million st, lower than 97.68 million st in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, bituminous coal deliveries stood at 9.86 million st in April, compared to 12.14 million st in March and 16.88 million st in April 2019. In the January-April period, bituminous coal deliveries fell to 47.81 million st from 68.44 million st in the same period last year.
The remaining deliveries in April consisted of 293,021 st of waste coal and 3.39 million st of lignite. Waste coal deliveries decreased from 248,944 st in March and 316,727 st a year earlier. Meanwhile, lignite deliveries declined from 3.44 million st in the previous month but increased from 3.19 million st in April 2019.
Both contract and spot deliveries in April plunged to more than 13-year low at 27.09 million st and 2.9 million st, respectively, EIA data showed.
