US coal exports totaled slightly more than 6.4 million mt in April, down 5.2% from the prior month and down 11.3% from the year-ago month, the US Census reported. The weaker figures were partly due to weather-related delays in February, which pushed some loadings into March.
However, the year-over-year decline also reflects continued weakness in the seaborne market for both thermal and metallurgical coal. Platts assessed the spot price for low vol US met coal FOB US East Coast on Wednesday at $102.50/mt, down 13.3% from a year-ago.
Met coal exports totaled 3.8 million mt in April, down 20.2% from March and down 18.1% from the year-ago month. For the year, met coal exports total 16.1 million mt, down 19.5% compared with the same period last year.
Bituminous coal exports totaled 2.2 million mt in April, up 28.8% from the previous month and up 0.5% from the year-ago month. For the year, bituminous coal exports total 8.5 million mt, down 15.3% compared with the same period last year. Subbituminous coal exports totaled 453,120 mt in April, up 17.6% from March but down 4.3% from the year-ago month. For the year, subbituminous exports total 1.7 million mt, down 29.5% from last year.
The Netherlands imported the most US thermal coal in April, at 555,128 mt; followed by India, at 508,897 mt; and South Korea, at 440,287 mt. Through the first four months of the year, Indian imports of US thermal coal have nearly doubled compared with last year, to 1.3 million mt in 2015 from 600,000 mt last year.
The largest importer of US met coal in April was Brazil, at 503,718 mt; followed by India, at 449,087 mt; followed by South Korea, at 377,091 mt. Through the first four months of the year, India is the largest importer of US met coal, at 2.1 million mt; followed by Brazil, at 2 million mt; and The Netherlands, at 1.3 million mt.
