Total U.S. coal production in the week ended Jan. 4 increased 0.4% year over year to 12.4 million tons from 12.3 million tons, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

For the 52 weeks ended Jan. 4, coal production totaled 703.4 million tons, down 6.8% year over year, while year-to-date coal output decreased 2.4% year over year to 7.2 million tons.

Coal production in the western region was roughly flat at 6.6 million tons for the week. Data for the western region covers Powder River Basin mines.

Weekly coal output from Appalachian mines totaled 3.5 million tons, up 3.6% year over year from 3.3 million tons.

The interior region produced an aggregate 2.3 million tons of coal during the week, decreasing 0.8% from 2.4 million tons on an annual basis. Interior region data covers mines in the Illinois Basin.

The EIA's production data is derived from rail carload estimates.