US coal exports totaled 4.1 million mt in February, up 1.8% from January, but still down 33.1% from the year-ago month, US Census data showed Tuesday.
The monthly total includes multi-year lows for thermal coal exports, which totaled 921,582 mt, down 25.9% from January and 71% from February 2015.
Bituminous coal exports in February totaled 733,499 mt, down 20.3% from January and down 69.7% from the year-ago month.
Subbituminous coal exports totaled 180,843 mt in February, down 30.4% from January and down 64.2% from the year-ago month.
Metallurgical coal exports totaled 3.2 million mt, up 14.2% from January and 7.9% higher year over year, according to the data.
Met coal exports were boosted during the month by higher seaborne pricing and increased mill utilization. However, exports would still total less than 40 million mt annually, a slight decrease from 2015.
Top met coal export destinations in February 2016 were Brazil, which imported 458,218 mt compared with 433,026 mt in February 2015; Japan, which imported 386,051 mt in February 2016 compared with 204,383 mt in the year-ago month; and the Netherlands, which imported 372,317 mt in February 2016, compared with 88,418 mt last year.
India, which imported 569,305 mt of met coal in February 2015, imported only 108,371 mt in February 2016.
Top bituminous coal export destinations in January 2016 were the Netherlands, which imported 239,672 mt compared with 644,732 mt in February 2015; India, which imported 200,644 mt in February compared with 463,272 mt in the year-ago month; and Canada, which imported 103,248 mt in February, compared with 66,546 mt last year.
Mexico and the UK, which imported 430,490 mt and 336,841 mt in February 2015, respectively, both imported a negligible amount in February 2016.
