Houston — US thermal and metallurgical coal exports totaled about 4.1 million mt in August, down 15.6% from the previous month, US Census data released Oct. 6 said.
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Register NowMonthly exports were at their lowest since September 2016.
From the year-ago month, exports declined 41.3%. Over the eight months, exports were 44.6 million st, down 31% year on year.
Out of August exports, 64.5% were met, leaving 35.5% thermal.
Of August thermal exports, bituminous shipments totaled 1.2 million st and subbituminous were 272,687 st. Bituminous exports were at their lowest in four months, while subbituminous touched a four-month high, following zero exports in July.
Month-on-month bituminous shipments dropped 19.5%, and from the year-ago month they declined 36.6%. Through August, bituminous exports totaled almost 12.9 million st, down 37.7% from the year-ago period.
Subbituminous shipments declined dropped 55.1% year on year. Through eight months, they totaled 2.6 million st, down 26.6% from the year-ago period.
The top importers for US bituminous coal in August were India, with 378,668 mt, up 32.3% from the year-ago month; the Netherlands, with 204,860 mt down 40.9% from last year; and the Dominican Republic, with 190,000 mt, compared with none in the year-ago month.
South Korea, Japan and Guatemala were the only importers of US subbituminous coal in August, taking in 167,674 mt, 91,604 mt and 13,409 mt, respectively. Year on year, South Korean imports declined 59%, Japanese imports rose 52.1%. Guatemala had no imports in the year-ago month.
Met exports
Met exports totaled over 2.6 million st in August, down 21.7% from July and down 42% year on year.
Through August, met shipments were 24.8 million st, down 27.5% year on year.
The top importers were Brazil, with 455,219 mt, down 7.6% from the year-ago month; the Netherlands, with 363,707 mt, down 14.7%; and Canada with 279,324 mt, down 15.8% year on year.
