US thermal and met coal June exports total 4.2 million mt, down 42.4% on year: Census

Houston — US thermal and metallurgical coal exports totaled about 4.2 million st in June, down 3% from the previous month, US Census data released Aug. 6 said.

From the year-ago month, exports declined 42.4%. Over six months, exports were 31.5 million st, down 31.2% year on year.

Out of June exports, 56.2% were met coal, leaving 42.8% thermal.

Of June thermal exports, bituminous shipments totaled 1.6 million st and subbituminous were 241,814 st. Bituminous exports were at their highest in four months, while subbituminous reached a 14-month low.

From the previous month, bituminous shipments rose 46.8%, and from the year-ago month they declined 27.9%. Through June, bituminous exports totaled almost 10.3 million st, down 39.9% from the year-ago period.

Subbituminous shipments declined 47% from May and dropped 19.8% year on year. Through six months, they totaled about 2.4 million st, up 6% from the year-ago period.

The top importers for US bituminous coal in June were the Netherlands, with 260,531 mt, down 35.2% from the year-ago month; India, with 199,081 mt, down 67.2% from last year; and Egypt, with 168,180, down 55.5% compared with none in the year-ago month.

South Korea and Mexico were the only importers of US subbituminous coal in June, taking in 211,976 mt and 29,838 mt, respectively. Year on year, South Korean imports declined 6.2%, and Mexican imports fell 60.5%.

Met exports totaled 2.3 million st in June, down 13.7% from May and down 50.4% year on year. Monthly met exports also hit a four-year low.

Through June, met shipments were 18.8 million st, down 28.7% year on year.

The top importers were Brazil, with 388,881 mt, down 40.7% from the year-ago month; Ukraine, with 336,212 mt, up 17.4%; and Japan with 288,985 mt, down 57.1% year on year.