March Alberta coal output hits 12-year low of 477,132 mt: AER

Houston — Coal production in Alberta, Canada, fell to a more than 12-year low 477,132 mt in March, down 29.6% from February and down 75.4% from the year-ago month, Alberta Energy Regulator data showed May 18.

It was the province's lowest output on record, according to AER data, which goes back to 2009, and the first month on record with no bituminous output.

Subbituminous coal production at the five mines totaled 477,132 mt in March, down 17.3% month on month and down 34.7% from March 2020. It was the lowest level of monthly subbituminous output since September 2020.

Cumulative subbituminous production through March was approximately 1.6 million mt, down 30.6% from the year-ago period.

In 2020, Alberta produced a 12-year low 7.8 million mt of subbituminous coal, down from 12.7 million mt in 2019.

Bituminous production hits zero

Bituminous thermal coal output dropped to zero in March for the first time in 12 years, according to available data. In February, bituminous production was 100,726 mt, and in the year-ago month it was 866,376 mt.

Throughout March, bituminous thermal coal production totaled 879,078 mt, down 57.4% year on year.

In 2020, the two mines produced 9.42 million mt, up 26.2% from 2019 levels and the highest in more than 12 years, according to AER data.

Both Coal Valley and Coalspur, which are mined from the same seam, ship all of their coal by rail to ports on the west coast of British Columbia for deliveries to power plants overseas.

Exports hit zero

According to AER data, exports hit a record low with zero shipments in March. Exports totaled 179,812 mt in February and 585,335 mt in the year-ago month.

Through March, about 726,449 mt of bituminous thermal coal was exported, up 46.9% from the year-ago period.

In 2020, the province exported 5.5 million mt of bituminous thermal coal, up from 3.6 million mt a year earlier.