Ridley terminals coal exports jump 184% on month

Ridley Terminals in Prince Rupert, BC exported 772,986 mt of thermal and metallurgical coal in December, up 184% from the previous month, Prince Rupert Port Authority data showed Monday.

The month on month jump was the highest since a 213% increase in March.

From the year-ago month, coal exports increased 6.2%.

In 2019, coal exports through the terminal totaled 8.6 million mt, up 10.7% from 2018 exports, and the most annual exports since 2013.

Thermal coal exports in December totaled 327,561 mt, a 207% jump month on month and the largest increase from the previous month since November 2016. From the year-ago month, thermal coal exports rose 29%.

In 2019, Ridley exported over 3.1 million mt of thermal coal, up 45.8% from 2018 exports, and the most annual exports since 2012.

December met coal exports totaled 445,425, up 168.2% from the month before and the largest month on month increase since November 2012. From the year-ago month, exports dropped 6.1%.

Ridley exported about 5.5 million mt of met coal in 2019, down 2.7% from 2018 levels.

Petcoke December exports were at 29,557 mt, the lowest monthly exports since May 2018. Month on month, exports dropped 74.6%, the largest drop from the prior month since February 2018. Year on year, petcoke exports were down 84.4%, the largest drop since May 2018.

However, petcoke exports in 2019 totaled about 1.5 million mt, up 9% year on year and the highest since 2017.