Coal news and updates

Coal deliveries from Central Appalachia mines to US power plants dropped to 12.88 million st in 2020, down 37.5% from 20.6 million st delivered in 2019, according to US Energy Information Administration data.

 

In Q4, the region shipped 3.31 million st of coal to the power sector, down 3.7% from Q3 and 23.8% lower on the year. December deliveries totaled 927,825 st, down 23.2% from November and down 30.8% year on year. It was the lowest deliveries since 746,267 st in June.

Average delivered costs to regulated plants were at $69.81/st in Q4, down from $70.89/st in Q3, but up from $68.93/st in the year-ago quarter, according to the EIA data.

 

Total CAPP coal deliveries in Q4 had an average heat content of 12,382 Btu/lb and an average sulfur content of 1.5 lbs SO2/MMBtu, compared with 12,286 Btu/lb and 1.5 lbs SO2/MMBtu in the year-ago quarter.

 

Contract deliveries, or purchases with a term of one year or longer, were at 2.71 million st in Q4, down from 2.95 million st in Q3 and 3.23 million st in Q4 2019.

 

Of the total contract deliveries in Q4, about 1.47 million st, or 54.1%, had an expiration date in 2020, and another 1.02 million st is set to expire in 2021. In the year-ago quarter, 1.61 million st, or 49.9%, of the deliveries had an expiration date in 2019 and 1.16 million st in 2020.

 

Spot purchases, or contract deliveries less than one year, were at 595,062 st in the latest quarter, up from 477,459 st in Q3, but down from 1.11 million st a year earlier. Contract deliveries totaled 10.34 million st in 2020, while spot deliveries were at 2.4 million st, compared with 15.18 million st and 5.26 million st, respectively, in 2019.

 

There were no new contract purchases in Q4, similar with the prior quarter and a year ago. New contract deliveries were at 137,216 st in 2020, down from 159,380 st a year earlier.

 

Source : https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/coal