US thermal coal exports rose from year-earlier levels for a fourth consecutive month in December, bringing the country’s international steam coal shipments for 2023 as a whole to their highest level in five years.

Volumes during the month climbed to 4.27mn short tons (3.88mn metric tonnes) from 3.4mn st in December 2022, according to preliminary US Commerce Department data released today. For all of 2023, US thermal coal exports increased to 48.5mn st from 39.5mn st. The last time full-year shipments were higher was in 2018, when they totaled 56.2mn st.

December shipments were supported by deals done with Asia-Pacific countries earlier in 2023. Seaborne market fundamentals generally were weaker at the end of last year, with fewer options for making spot deals following subdued coal-fired generation in some countries and lower coal prices.

But in December the US shipped 586,658st of steam coal to China, the most since June 2012 and nearly half of the 1.2mn st exported to China in all of 2023.

Government data show nearly 72pc of the coal headed to China in December left through the Baltimore, Maryland, Census district, which aligns with reports from Northern Appalachian coal producer Consol Energy that it had expanded its customer base in China, India and Indonesia in the back half of 2023. Thermal coal headed to China also moved through Mobile, Alabama, and Norfolk, Virginia, in December. Baltimore, Mobile and Norfolk are common exit points for high calorific value, lower-sulfur Appalachian coal.

Consol said on 6 February that it is planning to continue to target seaborne coal markets going forward, although it expects most of its coal shipped this year that has not already been put under contract will be sold as cross-over metallurgical coal rather than thermal coal.

US thermal coal exports to India and Japan also increased in December from a year earlier, but the volumes were well-below multi-year highs set a few months prior. Shipments to India totaled 1.34mn st in December compared with 701,749st in the same month of 2022 and about 44pc lower than October 2023’s 2.4mn st, which had been the highest level since at least 2009.

Cement makers in India retreated from US thermal coal markets toward the end of last year as petroleum coke prices regained a competitive advantage over coal.

US thermal coal exports to northern Africa also rose in December, to a combined 661,402st from 293,943st in the same month of 2022 as a jump in volumes to Morocco offset an 11pc decrease in shipments headed to Egypt.

For the third month in a row, US steam coal exports to Europe lagged those heading to both Africa and Asia, reflecting waning demand for coal used in power generation. Thermal coal exports to Europe dropped to 410,285st in December, the lowest since September 2021, from 1.63mn st in December 2022.

In the Americas, US thermal coal exports to Canada fell to their lowest level since January 2022 in December, but shipments to the Dominican Republic and Brazil jumped from year-earlier levels.

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