Total U.S. coal production in the week ended Dec. 28, 2019, dropped 9% year over year to 10.4 million tons from 11.4 million tons, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
For the 52 weeks ended Dec. 28, 2019, production totaled 703.4 million tons, down 6.8% year on year, while year-to-date coal output also decreased by 6.8% year over year to 700.1 million tons.
Coal production in the western region totaled 5.6 million tons for the week, a 13.4% year-over-year decrease from 6.5 million tons. Data for the western region covers Powder River Basin mines.
Weekly coal output from Appalachian mines totaled 2.8 million tons, dropping 4% year over year from 3 million tons.
The interior region's coal production during the week was roughly flat at 2 million tons. Interior region data covers mines in the Illinois Basin.
The EIA's production data is derived from rail carload estimates.