The Annual Coal Report (ACR) provides annual data on U.S. coal production, number of mines, productive capacity, recoverable reserves, employment, productivity, consumption, stocks, and prices. All data for 2019 and previous years are final.
Highlights for 2019
- U.S. coal production decreased 6.6% year over year to 706.3 million short tons (MMst).
- The total productive capacity of U.S. coal mines was 1,009.5 MMst, a decrease of 1.1% from the 2018 level.
- The average number of employees at U.S. coal mines decreased by 779 from the 2018 level to 52,804 employees.
- U.S. coal mining productivity, as measured by average production per employee hour, decreased 4.7% from the 2018 level to 5.9 short tons per employee hour.
- U.S. coal consumption decreased 14.8% from the 2018 level to 586.5 MMst. The electric power sector accounted for about 91.8% of the total U.S. coal consumed in 2019.
- The average sales price of bituminous coal was $58.93 per short ton, a 0.8% decrease from the 2018 level. The average sales price of subbituminous coal was $14.01 per short ton, a 2.7% increase from the 2018 level. The average sales price of thermal coal increased by 1.9% from the 2018 level to $27.54 per short ton. The average sales price of metallurgical coal decreased 3.2% from the 2018 level to $139.78 per short ton.
- Total U.S. coal stocks in 2019 ended at 165.7 MMst, 27.2% higher than at the same time in 2018. Electric power coal stocks increased by 25.3 MMst to 128.5 MMst at the end of 2019.