US coal production slips slightly for week ending 1 August

T.L. Headley, West Virginia Coal Association

Coal production in the US for the week ending 1 August slipped slightly off the recent high set last week, and production continues to fall short of last year, according to the latest report from the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) for the week.

Production in the US was down by 802 000 short t (.5%) to finish the week at 17.72 million short t compared to last week’s total of 17.82 million short t but significantly above the 16.4 million short t produced two weeks ago. Meanwhile, production for the week is off by 3.12 million short t (11.3%) from the 20.08 million short t for the same week in 2014. Cumulative production for the year-to-date remains sharply down as of 1 August, coming in at 528.15 million short t compared to 578.46 million short t last year – a decline of 50.31 million short t or 8.7%. Production for the previous 52 weeks also trended lower, finishing at 946.73 million short t compared to 984.86 million short t for the same period ending in 2014 (-3.9%).

Mirroring the coal production, the number of coal railcar loadings declined, finishing the week down 11.9% from same week in 2014 to 102 999 carloads from 116 881 carloads last year. Coal loadings also continued their decline year-to-date – off 9.5% from the same period in 2014.

Exports of coal continue far below 2014 levels. The EIA reports that for the month of June the US exported 3.95 million short t of metallurgical coal and 1.8 million short t of steam coal – down 32.2% and 35.8% from June 2014 respectively.

Electric output was up 10.6% compared to the same week in 2014, with 93.09 MWh of electricity produced compared to 84.2 MWh produced for the same period last year.

Domestic steel output, however, was up from the previous week.

According to numbers from the American Iron and Steel Institute, domestic raw steel production was up .05% from the previous week, coming in at 1.76 million short t compared to 1.75 million short t last week with a capacity utilisation factor of 73.6%. However, steel production was down sharply from the same week last year, when 1.91 million short t were produced at a capacity utilisation rate of 79.6%. Steel production continues its slide year-to-date – down 7.7% to 52.25 million short t produced compared to 56.62 million short t for the same period last year.

In terms of regional coal production, all three major basins reported slightly lower production for the week ending 1 August compared to the previous week, and all continue sharply lower compared to the same week in 2014.

The Appalachian Basin finished at 4.62 million short t, up from 4.65 million short t last week (-.07%). Interior Basin production also finished up at 3.41 million short t compared to 3.44 million short t last week (-.09%). Western production finished the week at 9.69 million short t from 9.74 million short t last week (-.06%). However production remains sharply below the same week in 2014. The Appalachian Basin is off by 13% from the same week last year. The Interior Basin is off 13% from 2014. And Western production is off 11.1% from the same period in 2014.

All three basins also continue to report significant declines in production year-to-date, with Appalachia down 12.6%, the Interior Basin off 7.5% and the Western Basin down 7.1%.

Looking at the previous 52 weeks, all three basins are also trending lower for the period ending 1 August, with the Appalachian Basin down 7.5%, the Interior Basin down 1.8% and the Western Region down 2.8%. Production in the Interior Basin fell to 180.07 million short t from 183.32 million short t for the same period in 2014. Appalachian production fell for the period to 247.34 million short t from 267.40 million short t. Meanwhile, Western production is down to 519.32 million short t from 534.14 million short t in 2014.

According to the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training (WV OMHST), coal production in the state now stands at 52.57 million short t through 30 July. Of that total, 42.01 million short t was mined by underground operations and 10.56 million short t was produced by opencast mining. A total of 112 mines are now reporting production through June 2015.

According to WV OMHST, coal mining employment in West Virginia rose slightly to 15 251 total miners, with 12 439 working underground and 2812 working on opencast operations. The office does not report data for contract miners or preparation plant workers on a weekly basis.? According to the EIA, West Virginia coal production for the week totalled 1.96 million short t compared to 1.98 million short t for the previous week (-.6%). West Virginia production is off by 11.8% from the same week in 2014.

Production decreased in both the northern and southern coalfields of West Virginia compared to last week, by -.6% in both the northern and southern coalfields. Production is off in both areas year-to-date by 1.1% and 17.7% respectively.

Coal production in Kentucky for the week ending 1 August was also compared to the previous week and remains down from the same period in 2014. Kentucky production for the week was reported at 1.3 million short t ¬– up from 1.31 million short t last week but down from the 1.56 million short t for the same week in 2014. Both the eastern and western regions of Kentucky appear to have stabilised their production but the state continues to see significant declines in both fields y/y. Year to date, production in Kentucky is off by 16.1%. Meanwhile production in the state is off by 10.9% for the previous 52 weeks, with western Kentucky reporting a 9.2% decline and eastern Kentucky operations reporting a decline of 12.6% y/y.

?Wyoming coal production was also down for the week, coming in at 7.04 million short t, compared to 7.08 million short t the previous week but down from the 7.91 million short t produced for the same week in 2014 – a decline of 11%. For the previous 52 weeks, Wyoming production is down 2.2%.

Illinois production also finished lower at 1.16 million short t compared to 1.17 million short t last week. Illinois production remains up by 12.4% for the previous 52 weeks. Indiana production came in at 671 000 compared to 675 000 short t for the same week in 2014. Indiana production is also down by 6.5% over the previous 52 weeks. Pennsylvania production for the week was also down to just 1.1 million short t versus 1.11 million short t for the previous week, and production in the Keystone State is down slightly (1.7%) for the previous 52 weeks.

Ohio production also finished slightly lower at 365 000 short t compared to 367 000 short t the previous week. Ohio coal production is off 17.1% year-to-date and down 13.7% for the previous 52 weeks, compared to the same period ending in 2014. Virginia production decreased slightly this week to 242 000 short t compared to 243 000 short t for last week. Virginia production year-to-date is off by 16.6% and down for the previous 52 weeks by 14.8%.

Coal prices on the spot market held steady this week. Central Appalachian coal held at US$49.95/short t or US$2/million Btu. Northern Appalachian coal held at US$52.25/short t or US$2.01/million Btu. Illinois Basin coal closed unchanged at US$34.35/short t or US$1.46/million Btu, while Powder River Basin coal held at US$11.55/short t or US$0.66/million Btu, and Uinta Basin coal prices were firm at US$39.55/short t or US$1.69/million Btu.

Meanwhile, on the NYMEX Coal Futures board, Central Appalachian coal is down to US$42.88/short t compared to US$43.14/short t to last week, while Western Rail rose to US$10.34/short t from US$10.22 and Eastern Rail coal is up to US$43.73/short t from US$42.27 the previous week.

Natural gas prices on the Henry Hub fell 2 cents to finish the week at US$2.87/million Btu. Natural gas producers again reported a significant increase in their stored reserves – up 52 billion ft3 compared to the previous week, for a total of 2.88 trillion ft3 in storage. This week’s working natural gas rotary rig count is up by 10 from last week to 884 working rigs. However, the count remains down by 1024 rigs from a year ago – down 54%. This number includes rigs working in both oil and gas plays.

Written By T.L. Headley. Edited by Harleigh Hobbs. This article first appeared in the WV Coal Seam blog of the West Virginia Coal Association.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/10082015/us-coal-production-slips-slightly-for-week-ending-1-august-2703/