Central Appalachia 2020 coal deliveries to US power plants drop 37.5% on year: EIA

Houston — Coal deliveries from Central Appalachia mines to US power plants dropped to 12.88 million st in 2020, down 37.5% from 20.6 million st delivered in 2019, according to US Energy Information Administration data.

In Q4, the region shipped 3.31 million st of coal to the power sector, down 3.7% from Q3 and 23.8% lower on the year. December deliveries totaled 927,825 st, down 23.2% from November and down 30.8% year on year. It was the lowest deliveries since 746,267 st in June.

Average delivered costs to regulated plants were at $69.81/st in Q4, down from $70.89/st in Q3, but up from $68.93/st in the year-ago quarter, according to the EIA data.

Total CAPP coal deliveries in Q4 had an average heat content of 12,382 Btu/lb and an average sulfur content of 1.5 lbs SO2/MMBtu, compared with 12,286 Btu/lb and 1.5 lbs SO2/MMBtu in the year-ago quarter.

Contract deliveries, or purchases with a term of one year or longer, were at 2.71 million st in Q4, down from 2.95 million st in Q3 and 3.23 million st in Q4 2019.

Of the total contract deliveries in Q4, about 1.47 million st, or 54.1%, had an expiration date in 2020, and another 1.02 million st is set to expire in 2021. In the year-ago quarter, 1.61 million st, or 49.9%, of the deliveries had an expiration date in 2019 and 1.16 million st in 2020.

Spot purchases, or contract deliveries less than one year, were at 595,062 st in the latest quarter, up from 477,459 st in Q3, but down from 1.11 million st a year earlier. Contract deliveries totaled 10.34 million st in 2020, while spot deliveries were at 2.4 million st, compared with 15.18 million st and 5.26 million st, respectively, in 2019.

There were no new contract purchases in Q4, similar with the prior quarter and a year ago. New contract deliveries were at 137,216 st in 2020, down from 159,380 st a year earlier.

Barge deliveries rise to one-year high

Rail deliveries made up 2.29 million st in Q4, down from 2.42 million st in Q3 and 3.46 million st in the year-ago quarter.

Barge deliveries rose to a one-year high of 877,678 st, up from 738,757 st in the previous quarter and 696,855 st in the year-ago quarter. It was the most barge shipments in a quarter since 931,372 st in Q3 2019.

Rail deliveries totaled 9.05 million st in 2020, while barge deliveries were at 2.97 million st, compared with 15.7 million st and 3.82 million st, respectively, a year earlier.

The remaining 142,715 st was delivered via trucks in Q4, compared with 268,630 st in Q3 and 181,797 st a year ago. Annual truck deliveries were at 859,817 st, down from 1.08 million st in 2019.

West Virginia mines in Central Appalachia delivered 1.61 million st of coal to power plants in Q4, down from 1.76 million st in Q3 and 2.4 million st a year earlier. Kentucky mines in CAPP delivered 1.35 million st of coal to the electric sector, up from 1.02 million st in Q3, but down from 1.43 million st in the year-ago quarter.

Alpha remains largest CAPP coal supplier

Alpha Metallurgical Resources (formerly Contura Energy) remained the largest supplier of CAPP coal in Q4 with deliveries of 609,813 st, down from 622,235 st, but up from 559,366 st in the year-ago quarter. The company shipped 2.19 million st of coal in 2020, down from 2.73 million st a year earlier.

Duke Energy Carolinas remained the largest operator of Central Appalachia coal in Q4, taking delivery of 569,761 st, down from 780,190 st in Q3 and 1.33 million st in the year-ago quarter. Total deliveries were at 2.91 million st in 2020, down from 4.4 million st in 2019.