Coal exports out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, rose in July from a year earlier, partly because one terminal at the port may have increased loadings to make up for delayed exports from the previous month.

The three coal terminals at Hampton Roads loaded a combined 2.59mn short tons (st), or 2.35mn metric tonnes (t), of metallurgical and thermal coal last month, inching up from 2.56mn st exported in July 2025, the Virginia Maritime Association estimated on 21 August.

Alpha Metallurgical Resources and Core Natural Resources’ co-owned Dominion Terminal Associates (DTA) facility loaded 912,374st of coal for export, a 31pc jump from a year earlier, accounting for all of the port’s volume gain.

Alpha and Core had declared force majeure at DTA after heavy winds damaged a reclaimer machine on 14 June. DTA’s owners have since resumed operations “to keep as much coal moving through the terminal as possible while simultaneously working through various processes with third-party equipment providers, structural engineers and the terminal’s insurance carrier”, Alpha chief executive Charles Eidson said on 7 August.

In addition, construction at DTA last year as part of the facility’s ongoing refurbishment and lifetime extension project hindered some loadings at the facility in July 2025.

Despite DTA handling significantly more coal in July than it had in the same month last year, Alpha earlier this month reduced its sales volume guidance for the year to 14.2mn-15.4mn st of coal, down from 15.1mn-16.5mn projected in May, because of persistently soft metallurgical market conditions, Eidson said.

Seaborne metallurgical coal market prices extended year-earlier declines last month. The monthly average for Argus‘ high-volatile type coking coal assessment was $154.09/t fob Hampton Roads in July, down from $162.55/t a year earlier.

The weaker demand for coking coal, which makes up the vast majority of coal shipped out of Hampton Roads, more than offset any impact from higher exports of thermal coal pricing during the month. The midpoint of the high-low range for prompt two-month shipments of 6,000 kcal/kg coal out of Hampton Roads rose to $114.76/t fob last month from $106.08/t in July 2025.

The other two coal terminals at Hampton Roads each handled less coal in July compared with a year earlier. Norfolk Southern’s Lamberts Point terminal loaded 1.07mn st of coal last month, down 8.5pc from July last year, and coal exports out of Kinder Morgan’s Pier IX terminal fell to 612,641st from 712,813st a year earlier.

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