In June, US exports of thermal and metallurgical coal went down by 3% month-on-month and 42.4% year-on-year at 4.2 million st. In the first half of 2020, exports slumped by 31.2% year-on-year at 31.5 million st.
The coal exports in June consisted of 56.2% met coal while the rest was thermal.
Out of the thermal exports in June, bituminous shipments totaled 1.6 million st, the highest in four months, while the sub-bituminous were at the 14-month low at 241,814 st.
The exports of bituminous in June jumped by 46.8% on a monthly basis but on a yearly basis, the shipments plummeted by 27.9%. In the first six months of the year, the exports tumbled by 39.9% year-on-year.
Shipments of sub-bituminous contracted by 47% from the previous month and 19.8% compared to the same period in 2019. In the January-June period, the total exports were still up by 6% year-on-year at 2.4 million st.
The top importers for US bituminous coal in June were the Netherlands at 260,531 mt, down 35.2% year-on-year, India with 199,081 mt, down 67.2% from last year, and Egypt at 168,180 mt, down 55.5% on a yearly basis.
Likewise, importers of sub-bituminous coal, South Korea and Mexico, also posted yearly slump. South Korea’s imports tumbled by 6.2% at 211,976 mt while Mexico bought 29,838 mt or a nosedive of 60.5% year-on-year.
Met shipments went down by 13.7% month-on-month in June and by 50.4% year-on-year, the lowest in four years. In the first six months of the year, met imports slumped by 28.7% on a yearly basis at 18.8 million st.
Brazil was the top importer with 388,881 mt, down 40.7% from the corresponding time last year, followed by Ukraine and Japan which both posted significant downfall in purchases as well.
