Source: US Energy Information Administration
The Quarterly Coal Report (QCR) provides detailed quarterly data on U.S. coal production, exports, imports, receipts, prices, consumption, quality, and stocks. The report also provides data on U.S. coke production, consumption, stocks, imports, and exports. All data for 2022 and previous years are final. All data for 2023 are preliminary.
Highlights for the second quarter of 2023
- U.S. coal production during the second quarter of 2023 totaled 142.3 million short tons (MMst), which was 4.3% lower than the previous quarter and 1.6% lower than the second quarter of 2022. Production in the Western region, which represented about 53.7% of total U.S. coal production in the second quarter of 2023, totaled about 76.4 MMst (3.6% lower than the second quarter of 2022).
- U.S. coal exports for the second quarter of 2023 (24.1 MMst) decreased 2.1% from the first quarter of 2023. The average price of U.S. coal exports during the second quarter of 2023 was $154.81 per short ton.
- The United States continued to import coal primarily from Colombia (68.6%) and Canada (19%). No imports from Australia or Indonesia were recorded for the second quarter of 2023. U.S. coal imports in the second quarter of 2023 totaled 1 MMst. The average price of U.S. coal imports during the second quarter of 2023 was $150.63 per short ton, the highest quarterly price recorded since at least 2000.
- Steam coal exports totaled 11.5 MMst (5.5% lower than the first quarter of 2023). Metallurgical coal exports totaled 12.6 MMst (1.2% higher than the first quarter of 2023).
- U.S. coal consumption totaled 91 MMst in the second quarter of 2023, which was 9.2% lower than the 100.3 MMst reported in the first quarter of 2023 and 22.8% lower than the 117.9 MMst reported in the second quarter of 2022. This is the lowest total U.S. coal consumption since the second quarter of 2020. The electric power sector accounted for about 89.6% of the total U.S. coal consumption in the second quarter of 2023.
- In the second quarter of 2023, coal stocks grew to 153.5 MMst from 134.1 MMst at the end of the first quarter of 2023 (a 14.5% increase). Stocks in the electric power sector increased to 129.2 MMst from 110.1 MMst at the end of the first quarter of 2023, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2020.