US electric utility coal stocks stood at roughly 113 million st in the week ended Thursday, nearly 27%, or 42 million st, below the same time last year, Platts unit Bentek Energy said Friday.
The weekly estimate was down less than 1% from a revised figure of 114 million st in the week that ended August 14.
Bentek said utility coal consumption rose 1% during the week, with the largest increase in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator electricity market, up 2% week over week.
Utility coal burn so far in August is up roughly 18% from the same period in 2013, Bentek said.
Despite lower stocks, railroad deliveries are up only 0.4% from last year, according to the American Association of Railroads.
An analysis by Platts of rail car loading data from the AAR shows US railroads have averaged weekly deliveries of roughly 12.8 million st so far this year, meaning they would require an additional three weeks to make up the supply deficit.
