Compared with the previous year, U.S. total coal consumption in 1999 rose by less than 1 percent and production fell by 1.5 percent, according to the Energy Information Administration's newly released Coal Industry Annual 1999. Factors shaping these developments included mild weather, increased nuclear generation, and sharply lower exports. Coal prices--for electric utility coal, industrial steam coal, and coking coal--all fell in the United States. World average coal prices were unusually low in 1999.
- Production
- Coal production fell in 1999 (to 1,100 million short tons) chiefly because electricity generation from nuclear power rose sharply and coal exports dropped by one-quarter. The 8-percent increase in nuclear generation resulted from the return to service of several generating units previously idled for maintenance, repair, or refueling, and led to a record output of 728 billion kilowatthours and a record capacity factor of over 85 percent for the year. Coal exports suffered from competition from cheaper foreign supplies and from natural gas.
Production slumped the most in the eastern United States (especially West Virginia, Virginia, and eastern Kentucky), because of the region's heavy concentration of nuclear generating plants and because a great deal of export coal comes from eastern mines. Operators of coal-fired power plants also began shifting away from high-sulfur eastern coal as the effective date (January 1, 2000) of stricter clean-air regulations approached.
- Consumption
- Of the 947 million short tons of coal consumed in the United States in 1999, 91 percent went for generating electricity. But because of mild weather and the jump in nuclear output, coal consumption for power generation rose only 1 percent over the 1998 level. Higher nuclear generation, in effect, displaced about 28 million short tons of coal. These factors drove consumption down significantly in New England and the Middle Atlantic region, which posted declines in consumption of coal for power generation of 18 percent and 4 percent respectively. Coal consumption at coke plants and by residential and commercial users changed little compared with the 1998 level, but industrial use of coal continued to decline, falling another 4 percent in 1999.
Continuing productivity gains and the expiration of high-cost contracts helped drive coal prices down in 1999. The average price of coal delivered to electric utilities dropped 4 percent to $24.72 per short ton.
- Trade
- U.S. coal exports fell for the third year in a row in 1999, plunging 25 percent in response to competitors' advantages in lower mine costs and exchange rates. Exports of steam coal declined 15 percent and those of metallurgical coal dropped 32 percent. The year continued the long decline from peak-year shipments of 109 million short tons in 1991. The United States slipped from second to third place in coal exports in 1998, behind Australia and South Africa.
Lower offshore prices and higher demand for low-sulfur coal helped boost imports 4 percent; Colombia and Venezuela were the largest suppliers. However, imports amounted to less than 1 percent of U.S. consumption.
Coal Industry Annual 1999, DOE/EIA-0584(99); 326 pages, 146 tables, 20 figures.
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