Coal news and updates

Coal deliveries to power plants reach six-month low in Oct: US EIA

Coal deliveries to US power plants fell to a six-month low in October, dipping to 38.17 million st, according to Energy Information Administration data from Dec. 27.

Declines showed up in contract deliveries, or purchases with a term of one year or longer. For October, totals finished at 31.78 million st, the lowest figure since April.

Railroad deliveries mirrored the decline, dropping to 26.6 million st, the lowest since April, while other delivery methods posted mixed results in the same period. Spot deliveries overall moved up 21,739 st from September to 6,280,154 st.

Among fuels, bituminous coal deliveries slipped to just under 12 million st, its lowest total since February. The 11,983,497 st total stood 1.08 million st behind October 2020 monthly totals. Its month-on-month totals also declined 3.5%.

Subbituminous coal deliveries also fell to six-month lows in October, slipping to 22.4 million st from 23.4 million st in September. In October 2019, subbituminous coal deliveries stood at 26.4 million, 17.6% higher.

Lignite and waste coal also posted modest delivery decreases, with lignite declining 465,444 st to 3.43 million st.

Barge deliveries fell 4.5% from September at 4.39 million st. They were also down 14.6% year on year. Deliveries by truck fell to five-month lows. The 3.27 million truck delivery total for October sat just over 145,000 higher than year-earlier totals.

Texas led all states in deliveries, posting a 5.22 million st total. In September, coal deliveries in the state topped 5.33 million st. Missouri was placed second with 2.48 million st in deliveries after taking in 2.77 million st in September. Deliveries in Illinois rose in October, reaching 2.30 million st, up from 2.28 million in September.

Peabody topped all sellers with 5.49 million st in October coal deliveries, down from 5.85 million st a month earlier. Arch's 2.78 million st total stood second. The company dropped slight in a month from 2.87 million st in deliveries. Navajo Transitional Energy LLC ended the month third in deliveries with 2.18 million st, a 258,199 st fall, or 10.6%, from September deliveries.