Coal news and updates

U.S. Coal Exports To Europe Up 46% By Weight, 184% By Value

Coal was the nation's fourth-ranked export by tonnage in the month of October, trailing three other ... [+]

Europe is buying almost 50% more U.S. coal as winter approaches and the Russian invasion of Ukraine drags on, increasing the percentage of U.S. coal shipped to Europe to the highest level since 2016.

The overall value of U.S. coal exports to Europe has risen significantly more, up 184.21%, according to the latest Census Bureau data. That’s the effect of increasing volume at the same time prices are increasing rapidly.

While the price increase is affecting all regions of the world fairly equally, Europe is paying its additional cost as it faces a shortage of heating fuel. Its traditional source — Russian natural gas — is very much in doubt as Russia retaliates for European and U.S. sanctions over Ukraine.

Increasing even more sharply by volume are U.S. shipments of liquid natural gas to Europe, the highly concentrated form of natural gas, as I have written previously.

While LNG and natural gas are seen as “clean,” or as least cleaner, energy sources, coal is largely seen as an energy source with greater environmental impact and, consequently, tied to global warming discussions.