Coal exports from the Ridley Terminals in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, jumped to a six-year high of 1.02 million mt in September, up 18.6% from 861,506 mt in August and the highest in a month since 1.09 million mt was exported in September 2013, according to data from the Prince Rupert Port Authority.
The total, which combines metallurgical and thermal coal, was up 68.4% from the year-ago month and up 120% from the five-year average for September.
In the first nine months of the year 6.69 million mt coal was exported, which was up 13.4% from the same period a year ago and was the most through September since 8.21 million mt was exported in 2013.
Met coal exports from the terminal were at 678,208 mt in September, up 25.2% from August and 58% higher than the year-ago month. It was the highest monthly exports for met coal since 763,654 mt in December 2013.
Since January 1, met exports were at 4.36 million mt, up 0.4% from a year ago and the highest since 6 million mt in 2013.
Thermal coal exports were at 343,801 mt in September, up 7.5% from August and 93.3% higher than the year-ago month. It was the third-highest monthly total in the last 40 months, only behind 474,054 mt in June and 411,415 mt in July 2018.
Year-to-date thermal exports are now at 2.33 million mt, up 49.6% from the first nine months of 2018 and the most since 2.44 million mt in 2012.
The terminal, the closest major North American coal export terminal to Asia, is served by Canadian National railroad. The largest customer is Conuma Coal Resources, a met coal producer in British Columbia.
