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Annual Energy Review

September 2012  PDF | previous editions
Release Date: September 27, 2012

Table 7.9 Coal Prices, 1949-2011 (Dollars per Short Ton)
Table 7.9  Coal Prices, 1949-2011
                    (Dollars per Short Ton)


Year		 Bituminous Coal Subbituminous Coal Lignite 1 Anthracite Total
Nominal 2 Real 3 Nominal 2 Real 3 Nominal 2 Real 3 Nominal 2 Real 3 Nominal 2 Real 3
1949 4 4.90 4,R 33.80 [4] [4] 2.37 R 16.35 8.90 R 61.38 5.24 R 36.14
1950 4 4.86 4,R 33.16 [4] [4] 2.41 R 16.44 9.34 R 63.73 5.19 R 35.41
1951 4 4.94 4,R 31.44 [4] [4] 2.44 R 15.53 9.94 R 63.26 5.29 R 33.67
1952 4 4.92 4,R 30.78 [4] [4] 2.39 R 14.95 9.58 R 59.94 5.27 R 32.97
1953 4 4.94 4,R 30.54 [4] [4] 2.38 R 14.71 9.87 R 61.02 5.23 R 32.34
1954 4 4.54 4,R 27.82 [4] [4] 2.43 R 14.89 8.76 R 53.67 4.81 R 29.47
1955 4 4.51 4,R 27.17 [4] [4] 2.38 R 14.34 8.00 R 48.19 4.69 R 28.25
1956 4 4.83 4,R 28.13 [4] [4] 2.39 R 13.92 8.33 R 48.51 5.01 R 29.18
1957 4 5.09 4,R 28.69 [4] [4] 2.35 R 13.25 9.11 R 51.35 5.28 R 29.76
1958 4 4.87 4,R 26.85 [4] [4] 2.35 R 12.96 9.14 R 50.39 5.07 R 27.95
1959 4 4.79 4,R 26.10 [4] [4] 2.25 R 12.26 8.55 R 46.58 4.95 R 26.97
1960 4 4.71 4,R 25.31 [4] [4] 2.29 R 12.30 8.01 R 43.04 4.83 R 25.95
1961 4 4.60 4,R 24.44 [4] [4] 2.24 R 11.90 8.26 R 43.89 4.73 R 25.13
1962 4 4.50 4,R 23.59 [4] [4] 2.23 R 11.69 7.99 R 41.88 4.62 R 24.22
1963 4 4.40 4,R 22.82 [4] [4] 2.17 R 11.25 8.64 R 44.81 4.55 R 23.60
1964 4 4.46 4,R 22.78 [4] [4] 2.14 R 10.93 8.93 R 45.61 4.60 R 23.49
1965 4 4.45 4,R 22.32 [4] [4] 2.13 R 10.68 8.51 R 42.69 4.55 R 22.82
1966 4 4.56 4,R 22.24 [4] [4] 1.98 R 9.66 8.08 R 39.41 4.62 R 22.53
1967 4 4.64 4,R 21.96 [4] [4] 1.92 9.09 8.15 R 38.57 4.69 R 22.19
1968 4 4.70 4,R 21.33 [4] [4] 1.79 R 8.12 8.78 R 39.85 4.75 R 21.56
1969 4 5.02 4,R 21.71 [4] [4] 1.86 8.05 9.91 R 42.87 5.08 R 21.97
1970 4 6.30 4,R 25.89 [4] [4] 1.86 R 7.64 11.03 R 45.32 6.34 R 26.05
1971 4 7.13 4,R 27.90 [4] [4] 1.93 R 7.55 12.08 R 47.27 7.15 R 27.98
1972 4 7.78 4,R 29.19 [4] [4] 2.04 R 7.65 12.40 R 46.52 7.72 R 28.96
1973 4 8.71 4,R 30.96 [4] [4] 2.09 7.43 13.65 R 48.51 8.59 R 30.53
1974 4 16.01 4,R 52.17 [4] [4] 2.19 7.14 22.19 R 72.30 15.82 R 51.55
1975 4 19.79 4,R 58.91 [4] [4] 3.17 9.44 32.26 R 96.04 19.35 R 57.60
1976 4 20.11 4,R 56.62 [4] [4] 3.74 R 10.53 33.92 R 95.50 19.56 R 55.07
1977 4 20.59 4,R 54.50 [4] [4] 4.03 R 10.67 34.86 R 92.26 19.95 R 52.80
1978 4 22.64 4,R 55.99 [4] [4] 5.68 R 14.05 35.25 R 87.18 21.86 R 54.06
1979 27.31 R 62.35 9.55 R 21.80 6.48 R 14.80 41.06 R 93.75 23.75 R 54.23
1980 29.17 R 61.04 11.08 R 23.18 7.60 R 15.90 42.51 R 88.95 24.65 R 51.58
1981 31.51 R 60.28 12.18 R 23.30 8.85 R 16.93 44.28 R 84.71 26.40 R 50.51
1982 32.15 R 57.97 13.37 R 24.11 9.79 R 17.65 49.85 R 89.89 27.25 R 49.14
1983 31.11 R 53.96 13.03 R 22.60 9.91 R 17.19 52.29 R 90.70 25.98 R 45.06
1984 30.63 R 51.21 12.41 R 20.75 10.45 R 17.47 48.22 R 80.61 25.61 R 42.81
1985 30.78 R 49.94 12.57 R 20.40 10.68 R 17.33 45.80 R 74.32 25.20 R 40.89
1986 28.84 R 45.78 12.26 R 19.46 10.64 R 16.89 44.12 R 70.04 23.79 R 37.77
1987 28.19 R 43.49 11.32 R 17.46 10.85 R 16.74 43.65 R 67.34 23.07 R 35.59
1988 27.66 R 41.26 10.45 R 15.59 10.06 R 15.00 44.16 R 65.87 22.07 R 32.92
1989 27.40 R 39.38 10.16 R 14.60 9.91 R 14.24 42.93 R 61.70 21.82 R 31.36
1990 27.43 R 37.96 9.70 R 13.42 10.13 R 14.02 39.40 R 54.52 21.76 R 30.11
1991 27.49 R 36.74 9.68 R 12.94 10.89 R 14.55 36.34 R 48.57 21.49 R 28.72
1992 26.78 R 34.96 9.68 R 12.64 10.81 R 14.11 34.24 R 44.70 21.03 R 27.46
1993 26.15 R 33.40 9.33 R 11.92 11.11 R 14.19 32.94 R 42.07 19.85 R 25.35
1994 25.68 R 32.12 8.37 R 10.47 10.77 R 13.47 36.07 R 45.12 19.41 R 24.28
1995 25.56 R 31.32 8.10 9.93 10.83 R 13.27 39.78 R 48.75 18.83 R 23.07
1996 25.17 R 30.27 7.87 R 9.46 10.92 R 13.13 36.78 R 44.23 18.50 R 22.25
1997 24.64 R 29.12 7.42 R 8.77 10.91 R 12.89 35.12 R 41.50 18.14 R 21.43
1998 24.87 R 29.06 6.96 R 8.13 11.08 R 12.95 42.91 R 50.14 17.67 R 20.65
1999 23.92 R 27.54 6.87 R 7.91 11.04 R 12.71 35.13 R 40.45 16.63 R 19.15
2000 24.15 R 27.22 7.12 R 8.02 11.41 R 12.86 40.90 R 46.10 16.78 R 18.91
2001 25.36 R 27.95 6.67 R 7.35 11.52 R 12.70 47.67 R 52.54 17.38 R 19.16
2002 26.57 R 28.82 7.34 R 7.96 11.07 R 12.01 47.78 R 51.82 17.98 R 19.50
2003 26.73 R 28.40 7.73 8.21 11.20 11.90 49.87 R 52.98 17.85 R 18.96
2004 30.56 R 31.57 8.12 8.39 12.27 12.68 39.77 R 41.09 19.93 R 20.59
2005 36.80 36.80 8.68 8.68 13.49 13.49 41.00 41.00 23.59 23.59
2006 39.32 R 38.09 9.95 9.64 14.00 13.56 43.61 R 42.25 25.16 24.37
2007 40.80 R 38.41 10.69 10.06 14.89 R 14.02 52.24 R 49.18 26.20 R 24.66
2008 51.39 R 47.33 12.31 R 11.34 16.50 R 15.20 60.76 R 55.96 31.25 R 28.78
2009 55.44 R 50.52 13.35 R 12.17 17.26 R 15.73 57.10 R 52.04 33.24 R 30.29
2010 R 60.88 R 54.85 R 14.11 R 12.71 R 18.76 R 16.90 R 59.51 R 53.62 R 35.61 R 32.08
2011E 57.64 50.85 15.80 13.94 19.38 17.10 70.99 62.62 36.91 32.56
1Because of withholding to protect company confidentiality, lignite prices exclude Texas for 1955–1977
and Montana for 1974–1978.  As a result, lignite prices for 1974–1977 are for North Dakota only.		 R=Revised.  E=Estimate.  
2See "Nominal Dollars" in Glossary. Note:  Prices are free-on-board (F.O.B.) rail/barge prices, which are the F.O.B. prices of coal at the point
of first sale, excluding freight or shipping and insurance costs.  For 1949–2000, prices are for open market
and captive coal sales; for 2001–2007, prices are for open market coal sales; for 2008 forward, prices are
for open market and captive coal sales.  See "Captive Coal," "Free on Board (F.O.B.)," and "Open Market
Coal" in Glossary.
3In chained (2005) dollars, calculated by using gross domestic product implicit price deflators in Table
D1.  See "Chained Dollars" in Glossary.		 Web Page:  For related information, see http://www.eia.gov/coal/.
4Through 1978, subbituminous coal is included in "Bituminous Coal." Sources:  ·  1949-1975—Bureau of Mines (BOM), Minerals Yearbook.  ·  1976—U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA), Energy Data Report, Coal—Bituminous and Lignite in 1976, and BOM, Minerals
Yearbook.  ·  1977 and 1978—EIA, Energy Data Reports, Bituminous Coal and Lignite Production and
Mine Operations, and Coal—Pennsylvania Anthracite.  ·  1979—EIA, Coal Production, and Energy Data
Report, Coal—Pennsylvania Anthracite.  ·  1980-1992—EIA, Coal Production, annual reports.
·  1993-2000—EIA, Coal Industry Annual, annual reports and unpublished revisions.  ·  2001-2010—EIA,
Annual Coal Report, annual reports.  ·  2011—EIA, Form EIA-7A, "Coal Production Report," and U.S.
Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration, Form 7000-2, "Quarterly Mine Employment
and Coal Production Report."
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)