The Annual Coal Report (ACR) provides annual data on U.S. coal production, number of mines, productive capacity, recoverable reserves, employment, productivity, consumption, stocks, and prices. All data for 2020 and previous years are final.

Highlights for 2020

• U.S. coal production decreased 24.2% year over year to 535.4 million short tons (MMst).
• The total productive capacity of U.S. coal mines was 933 MMst, a decrease of 7.6% from the 2019 level.
• The average number of employees at U.S. coal mines decreased by 10,645 from the 2019 level to 42,159 employees.
• U.S. coal mining productivity, as measured by average production per employee hour, increased 3.0% from the 2019 level to 6.12 short tons per employee hour.
• U.S. coal consumption decreased 18.7% from the 2019 level to 476.7 MMst. The electric power sector accounted for about 91.4% of the total U.S. coal consumed in 2020.
• The average sales price of bituminous coal was $50.05 per short ton, a 15.1% decrease from the 2019 level. The average sales price of subbituminous coal was $14.43 per short ton, a 3.0% increase from the 2019 level. The average sales price of thermal coal decreased by 9.4% from the 2019 level to $24.93 per short ton. The average sales price of metallurgical coal decreased 21.0% from the 2019 level to $110.64 per short ton.
• Total U.S. coal stocks in 2020 ended at 162.1 MMst, 2.1% lower than at the same time in 2019. Electric power coal stocks increased by 5.2 MMst to 133.7 MMst at the end of 2020.