Weekly US coal production totaled an estimated 11 million st in the week ended April 2, down 5.4% from the prior week's estimate and down 37.9% from the year-ago week, US Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday.
The weekly estimate -- 10,977,971 st -- was the lowest so far this year, and also the lowest weekly estimate for the last several years, as producers continue to deal with weak demand due to high utility stockpiles and competition from cheap natural gas.
Year-to-date coal production totaled an estimated 168.3 million st as of April 2, down 32.2% compared with the same period last year.
Based on the EIA's weekly coal production estimates through the first 14 weeks of the year, annualized coal production in 2016 would total 625 million st, down 30.3% from 2015.
For the week, coal production in Wyoming and Montana, which is mostly made up of production from the Powder River Basin, totaled an estimated 5.2 million st, down 5.7% from the prior week and down 35.5% from the year-ago week.
In Central Appalachia, weekly coal production totaled an estimated 1.2 million st, down 7.9% from the prior week and down 45.5% from the year-ago week. Weekly coal production in Northern Appalachia totaled an estimated 1.4 million st, down 3.3% from the previous week and down 38.5% from last year.
In the Illinois Basin, weekly coal production totaled an estimated 1.6 million st, down 10% from last week and down 39.4% from the year-ago week.
