Weekly US coal production reached an estimated 15-week high of 15.48 million st in the week that ended December 15, up 3% from a week earlier and 0.9% from the year-ago week, US Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday.
It was the third straight week and fifth time in the last eight weeks that all four basins saw week-on-week increases.
The total for Week 50, which was the sixth highest weekly output in 2018, was 10.2% lower than the five-year average for the corresponding week.
Utility stockpiles remained low on an aggregate basis, totaling an estimated 98.15 million st as of December 13, down roughly 30% from a year earlier, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics.
For the latest week, estimated coal production in Wyoming and Montana, which is primarily made up of production from the Powder River Basin, totaled a 15-week high of 7.03 million st, up 2.2% from last week and 1.3% from the year-ago week.
On an annualized basis, production in the two states would total 340.19 million st, down 3.3% from a year ago.
In the Illinois Basin, estimated weekly coal production was also at a 15-week high of 2.04 million st, up 4% from last week and 1.2% from the year-ago week. Annualized production in the IB basin would total 104.27 million st, up 0.7% from the 2017 total.
Weekly coal production in Northern Appalachia totaled a 24-week high of 2.09 million st, up 2.4% from the prior week but 1.6% lower than the year-ago week. It was the only major basin to see a decrease from the year-ago period.
Annualized NAPP production would total 103.22 million st, down 1.7% from last year.
In Central Appalachia, estimated weekly coal production was at a 17-week high of 2 million st, up 4.1% from a week earlier and 10.4% higher than the year-ago week. Annualized CAPP production would total 97.18 million st, up 6.1% year on year. Through the first 50 weeks of the year, US coal production totaled an estimated 724.28 million st, down 2.8% year on year, while production on an annualized basis is expected around 753.85 million st, which would be down 2.6% from last year.
