US weekly coal output came at 13.5 mmst

2-exclusive

US, world’s second largest coal producer have produced an estimated 13.5 million short tons (mmst) of coal for the week ending on January 13, 2018, EIA said in its latest report. According to EIA’s latest report, this production estimate was 11.7% higher than last week’s estimate and 12.9% lower than the production estimate in the comparable week in 2017.

East of the Mississippi River produced totalled an estimated 5.5 mmst and west of the Mississippi River produced totalled an estimated 8 mmst according to weekly figures released by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), on January 18, 2018.

US year-to-date (as of January 13, 2017) coal production totalled at 24.1 mmst, 10.8% lower than the comparable year-to-date coal production in 2017.

Coal Output (Jan-Nov)

Coal production for the first 11 months of 2017 was estimated to have been 719 mmst, 54 mmst (8%) higher than production for the same period in 2016. Annual production is expected to be 791 mmst in 2017, falling to 771 mmst in 2018 because of lower exports and no growth in coal consumption.

Coal Exports

US coal exports for the first three quarters of 2017 were 69 mmst, 68% (28 mmt) higher than exports for the same period in 2016. This total for the first three quarters of 2017 is already 14% (8 mmst) higher than total annual coal exports in 2016. EIA expects that exports will total 89 mmst in 2017 and 74 mmst in 2018

US Electricity Generation from Coal

EIA projects the 2017 share of generation from coal will average 30%, about the same as last year. EIA expects the share of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation from natural gas will average about 32% in 2017, down from 34% in 2016 as a result of higher natural gas fuel costs and increased generation from renewable energy sources.