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Short-Term Energy Outlook

Release Date: December 10, 2019  |  Next Release Date: January 14, 2020  |  Full Report    |   Text Only   |   All Tables   |   All Figures

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Coal

  • EIA expects U.S. coal production in 2019 to total 697 million short tons (MMst), which would be an 8% decline from the 2018 level. In 2020, EIA expects a further decrease in total U.S. coal production of 14%, to an annual total of 601 MMst, reflecting continued idling and closures of mines as a result of declining domestic demand.
  • EIA expects U.S. coal exports to total 93 MMst in 2019, and then decline by 8 MMst to 85 MMst in 2020. U.S. coking coal currently faces challenges from a global oversupply of steel, particularly in the fourth quarter of 2019. Steam coal exports have been dampened by high stockpiles in Europe and India, a top destination for U.S. shipments.

U.S. coal production

U.S. coal consumption

U.S. electric power sector coal stocks

U.S. Coal Summary
  2017201820192020
Prices (dollars per million Btu)
Electric Power Sector 2.062.062.072.10
Supply (million short tons)
U.S. Coal Production 774.6755.5697.0601.1
Imports 7.86.06.75.6
Exports 97.0115.692.985.1
Consumption (million short tons)
Electric Power Sector 665.0637.2561.1481.2
Other Sectors 51.950.952.052.0
Total Consumption 716.9688.1613.2533.2
End of Period Inventories (million short tons)
Electric Power Sector 137.7103.0117.6114.9
Total Inventories 167.0130.0148.3145.8

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Related Tables
Table 1. U.S. Energy Markets Summary PDF
Table 2. Energy Prices PDF
Table 6. U.S. Coal Supply, Consumption, and Inventories PDF
Table 9a. U.S. Macroeconomic Indicators and CO2 Emissions PDF
Table 9b. U.S. Regional Macroeconomic Data PDF
Table 9c. U.S. Regional Weather Data PDF
Related Figures
U.S. coal production XLSX PNG
U.S. coal consumption XLSX PNG
U.S. electric power sector coal stocks XLSX PNG
U.S. electricity generation by fuel, all sectors XLSX PNG
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions growth XLSX PNG
U.S. summer cooling degree days XLSX PNG
U.S. winter heating degree days XLSX PNG
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