According to weekly figures released by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), coal production in the United States was up 4.4% for the week ending September 27th. Production for the week was up more than 800,000 tons to 19,933,000 tons, from 19,100 tons for the same week in 2013. Production for the previous 52 weeks remains down, by 1.7% or almost 17 million tons, standing at 974.5 million tons.
West Virginia coal production fell for the 52 weeks ending September 27th by 1.5% at 112.98 million tons versus 114.67 million tons from 2013. Likewise, coal production in northern West Virginia for the same period was up 6.6% from 2013 to 45.15 million tons, up 2.7 million tons from the same period in 2013. Meanwhile, coal production in southern West Virginia was off 6.2% for the 52 weeks, 67.88 million tons in 2014 versus 72.31 million in 2013.
The numbers for the export and import of coal were not provided in this week’s report.
Electric output was up by 1.4% for the week ending September 27th compared to the same week in 2013. Steel production was down 1.5% for the same week last year. Steel production is considered a leading economic indicator, which signals a decrease in demand for construction and durable goods.
Also, according to EIA, Central Appalachian coal was selling on the spot market for $54.59, down by almost $2 per ton from the week of September 12th. Meanwhile, Northern Appalachian coal was selling for $63.30 per ton, up 55 cents a ton from the week of September 12th of last year. Natural gas prices on the Henry Hub remained essentially steady at just below $4.00 per million Btu – still well below its $8 per million Btu peak in January and February.
Utilities did not update their stockpile data for this week.