US coal exports totaled 49.2 million mt (54.3 million st) in 2016, down 26.9% from 2015, the most recent US Census data showed Tuesday.
It was the lowest annual total since 2006, as low international seaborne prices through the first half of the year effectively put a lid on exports, though exports picked up in the latter half of the year due to a strengthening market.
In December, US coal exports totaled 7.2 million mt, which was the highest monthly total since October 2014, led by an increase in both metallurgical and thermal coal. The total was up 20.9% from November, and up 63.6% compared with the year-ago month.
US met coal exports in December totaled 4.2 million mt, up 20.7% from November and up 47.9% from December 2015. It was the highest total since March 2015.
For the year, US met coal exports totaled 37.1 million mt, down 11% from 2015. Met coal made up 75.4% of US exports in 2016, compared with 62% in 2015. December exports of US bituminous coal totaled 2.6 million mt, up 28.2% from November and up 108.4% from the year-ago month, and the highest monthly since March 2014.
For the year, US bituminous coal exports totaled 14.3 million mt, down 27.5% from 2015.
Subbituminous exports in December totaled 410,510 mt, up 1.9% from November and up 29% from December 2015. It was also a year-to-date high, and the highest amount since August 2015.
Top met coal export destinations in December were Brazil, which imported 776,991 mt compared with 167,715 mt in the year-ago month; the Netherlands, which imported 446,768 mt in December compared with 491,957 mt in December 2015; and Canada, which imported 440,120 mt in December compared with 550,611 mt last year.
For 2016, the largest importers of US met coal were Brazil, at 6.2 million mt compared with 5.6 million mt last year; the Netherlands, at 3.7 million mt compared with 4.1 million mt last year; and Japan, at 3.6 million mt compared with 3.2 million mt last year.
Top bituminous coal export destinations in December were the Netherlands, which imported 873,934 mt compared with 834,357 mt in the year-ago month; India, which imported 366,569 mt compared with 102,545 mt last year; and South Korea, which imported 272,436 mt compared with essentially nothing in the year-ago month.
South Korea notably took delivery of 606,293 mt of bituminous coal in 2016, compared with essentially zero tons in 2015. The country took delivery of 901,519 mt of bituminous coal in 2014.
For 2016, the largest importers of bituminous coal were the Netherlands, at 5.5 million mt compared with 7.7 million mt last year; India, at 2.4 million mt compared with 2.2 million mt last year; and Germany, at 1.7 million mt compared with 2 million mt last year.
For subbituminous coal, year-end exports from the US totaled 2.3 million mt, with Mexico as the top destination, taking 1.6 million mt compared with 441,390 mt in 2015. The next biggest market was South Korea, which took 423,717 mt in 2016 compared with 2.9 million mt in 2015.
