Quarterly Coal Report (QCR)—First-Quarter 2024

The Quarterly Coal Report (QCR) provides detailed quarterly data on U.S. coal production, exports, imports, receipts, prices, consumption, quality, and stocks. The report also provides data on U.S. coke production, consumption, stocks, imports, and exports. All data for 2022 and previous years are final. All data for 2023 and 2024 are preliminary.

• U.S. coal production during the first quarter of 2024 totaled 129.9 million short tons (MMst), which was 7.8% lower than the previous quarter and 12.7% lower than the first quarter of 2023. Production in the Western region, which represented about 52.4% of total U.S. coal production in the first quarter of 2024, totaled about 68.1 MMst (15.4% lower than the first quarter of 2023).
• U.S. coal exports for the first quarter of 2024 (26.8 MMst) increased 2.4% from the fourth quarter of 2023. The average price of U.S. coal exports during the first quarter of 2024 was $153.34 per short ton.
• The United States continued to import coal primarily from Canada (49.5%) and Colombia (22.5%). No imports from Australia or Indonesia were recorded for the first quarter of 2024. U.S. coal imports in the first quarter of 2024 totaled 0.3 MMst. The average price of U.S. coal imports during the first quarter of 2024 was $232.99 per short ton.
• Steam coal exports totaled 12.5 MMst (7.5% lower than the fourth quarter of 2023). Metallurgical coal exports totaled 14.3 MMst (12.9% higher than the fourth quarter of 2023).
• U.S. coal consumption totaled 100.2 MMst in the first quarter of 2024, which was 0.6% lower than the 100.8 MMst reported in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 1.5% lower than the 101.7 MMst reported in the first quarter of 2023. The electric power sector accounted for about 90.5% of total U.S. coal consumption in the first quarter of 2024.
• In the first quarter of 2024, coal stocks grew to 158.0 MMst from 154.4 MMst at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 (a 2.3% increase). Stocks in the electric power sector increased to 133.6 MMst from 131.4 MMst at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023.