U.S. coal traders have exported the highest volume of thermal coal in six years over the first 11 months of 2024, reported Reuters. Exports of coal used in power generation reached 32.6 million short tons during the January-November period.
This is the highest volume for that period since 2018, and will have generated roughly $4 billion in revenues for the U.S. coal sector, according to price data published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
U.S. power producers have reduced the share of coal in electricity production by half over the past decade, bringing it down to less than 15%. However, several countries, including China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam and Turkey, still rely on coal for 40% or more of their electricity generation. These countries also need to import a significant portion of their annual coal requirements.
India is by far the top destination for U.S. coal in 2024, noted the news agency, accounting for 9.5 million tons or 29% of total U.S. thermal shipments so far. Morocco (4.6 million tons), Egypt (4 million tons) and China (3.3 million tons) are the next largest buyers.
Reuters said export volumes could be even higher in 2025 if the incoming administration of President Donald Trump promotes the extraction and sale of more U.S. energy products as expected.
Source: Reuters