U.S. coal exports increased by 61 percent in 2016, EIA reports

The United States exported 97.0 million short tons (MMst) of coal in 2017, 61 percent more than it exported in 2016, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Although Europe remained the largest recipient of U.S. coal exports, exports to Asia more than doubled from 15.7 MMst in 2016 to 32.8 MMst in 2017.

Most of the increase was for steam coal, which is used to generate electricity. India was the largest importer of U.S. steam coal. It imported 7.6 MMst of steam coal from the United States in 2017, approximately three times more than it did in 2016.

South Korea imported 5.9 MMst of U.S. steam coal in 2017. In 2016, it imported 1.3 MMst. The increase was due largely due to the country’s plan to transition away from nuclear power.

The United States imported 2.7 MMst of steam coal to Japan in 2017, as compared to 0.6 MMst in 2016. Japan relies on imports for more than 90 percent of its energy needs and primarily uses fossil fuels.

Australia and Indonesia are traditionally the main sources of coal for many countries in Asia. In 2017, disruptions to coal supply in these countries caused many Asian countries to increase their imports from the United States.

U.S. exports of metallurgical coal exports also increased in 2017 up to 55.3 MMst. Metallurgical coal accounted for 57 percent of total U.S. coal exports in 2017, up from approximately a third in 2016. Metallurgical coal is used primarily in steel production.

Europe received 45 percent of total U.S. metallurgical exports in 2017, making it the top destination for metallurgical coal exports from the United States. The top six countries importing U.S. metallurgical coal in 2017 were Brazil, Japan, Ukraine, Canada, India and South Korea and accounted for more than half of all metallurgical exports.