The US Energy Information Administration (EIA), in its latest Quarterly Coal Report (QCR), said that US coal production in Q4 2019 reached 165.2 million short tons (MMst), declining by 8.9% from Q3 2018 and by 14.3% from Q4 2018.
During the period, US coal exports fell 6.9% quarter-on-quarter to 20.4 MMst. The average price of US coal exports in Q4 2019 was $93.94/short ton. Steam coal exports in the period fell 8% quarter-on-quarter to 7.8 MMst. Meanwhile, metallurgical coal exports decreased by 6.2% from the previous quarter to 12.6 MMst.
The US continued to import coal in Q4 2019, totaling 1.7 MMst. Major coal suppliers to the US included Colombia (77.2%), Canada (12.9%), and Indonesia (7.9%). The price of US coal imports during the period averaged $75.66/st.
The US consumed a total of 131.8 MMst of coal in Q4 2019. This represents a 21.4% decline from 167.8 MMst in Q3 2019 and a 22% drop from 169.1 MMst in Q4 2018. Around 91% of the national coal demand in Q4 last year, came from the electric power sector.
US coal stocks increased by 13.5% from 139.9 MMst at the end of Q3 2019 to 158.8 MMst in Q4 2019. Inventories in the electric power sector reached 128.5 MMst in Q4, the highest since Q4 2017, increasing from 111 MMst in the previous quarter.
