U.S. coal production rose sharply in the third quarter as employment increased for the fourth straight quarter.
Mines produced 196.1 million tons of coal in the most recent period compared to 186.5 million in the second quarter, an increase of 5.1%. Meanwhile, average coal mine employment rose 0.4% in the same period to 54,096, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration data. Year over year, third-quarter production was up 0.3%, while average coal mine employment was up 7%.
Producers are watching both winter weather and international demand to drive trends in coal production in the coming months. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is projecting coal production to be flat between 2017 and 2018. While coal plants have continued to retire in recent months, metallurgical coal producers have enjoyed an uptick in pricing as export opportunities have also improved.

The general trend showing a bounce in production quarter-to-quarter in the recent period alongside roughly flat production year over year and steadily rising average coal mine employment is consistent with an earlier analysis of data from early reporting coal mines suggesting the same. In the Powder River Basin, where much of the coal in the U.S. comes from, production declined steadily since the middle of 2016 before increasing in the third quarter. Employment, however, has been slowly increasing steadily since the end of 2016.

Coal production in the three other largest regions — Central Appalachia, Illinois Basin and Northern Appalachia — has declined in the last two quarters after recent bounces in total production. Employment, on the other hand, has stayed relatively flat in the Northern Appalachia and Illinois Basin in recent quarters while it has climbed in Central Appalachia.


