US Western bituminous coal production in the first quarter totaled 15 million st, down 10.9% from Q4 2017 and 7.4% from the year-ago quarter, Mine Safety and Health Administration data shows.
The downward production trend from the Western bituminous coal producing states, which include Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Montana and Wyoming, is likely due to weaker power demand and fewer exports.
For Q1, bituminous coal exports from the Western US Census districts of San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle were down 30.3% compared with the same period last year.
In Q1, the basin's most productive mine was the Bull Mountains mine, owned by Signal Peak Energy, in Montana, which produced 1.89 million st, up 5.4% from Q4 2017 and 109.1% from the year-ago quarter. Production from the mine totaled 5,883,820 st for 2017, up 4.9% from 2016.
The basin's second-most productive mine in Q1 was Peabody's El Segundo mine in Utah, which produced 1.57 million st, up 27.1% from Q4 2017 and 67.8% the year-ago quarter, while full-year production totaled 4,855,010 st in 2017, down 1% from last year.
Peabody's Kayenta mine was the third-largest producer this quarter, mining 1.53 million st, down 15.1% from Q4 2017 and 8.4% from the year ago quarter.
Arch Coal's West Elk mine in Colorado, which also exports, had a Q1 production of 1.3 million st, up 3.8% from the Q4 2017 and 11.2% from the year-ago quarter.
The basin's biggest producer in Q1 was Peabody, at 3.51 million st, down 10.7% from Q4 2017 and 0.9% from the year-ago quarter.
The second largest producer in Q4 was Bowie, at 2.39 million st, down 19.9% from Q4 2017 and 13.4% from the year-ago quarter.
