Annual US coal exports drop 26% from 2019 – 2020
The Energy Information Administration has reported that in 2020, US coal exports declined to 69 million short t, a 26% decrease from 93 million short t in 2019. Steam coal exports, which accounted for 40% of the total, declined by more than one-third, dropping 34% from the previous year to 27 million short t. Metallurgical coal had a smaller, but still significant, decrease of 20%. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed global demand for coal, and some US coal mines were idled for extended periods to slow the spread of the virus. Coal exports decreased significantly in April 2020 as the US and countries around the world responded to the pandemic.
Steam coal, also known as thermal coal, is used for electricity generation. Steam coal is ground into a fine powder that burns quickly at high heat. Power plants use this powder to heat water in boilers that run steam turbines to generate electricity. Steam coal can also be used to directly heat homes and businesses. Although steam coal is mined across the US, most steam coal comes from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana.
Metallurgical coal, or coking coal, can be used to produce coke, a primary fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for steelmaking. Demand for metallurgical coal is correlated with demand for steel. Most US metallurgical coal comes from Appalachia.
As US exports of both coal types decreased, more of the exports went to fewer destinations in 2020. In 2020, the top five export destination countries for US steam coal accounted for 73% of the total, which is up from the previous 4-year average of 54%. The market for US metallurgical coal saw a similar, although less significant, consolidation as the top five destination countries consumed 53% of total exports, which is up from the 4-year average of 48%.
Four of the top 10 US coal export destinations – Brazil, Turkey, the Dominican Republic, and China – increased their imports of US coal in 2020. Exports to the Dominican Republic increased by 1.3 million short t, more than double its 2019 US coal imports and the largest increase of all export destinations.
US coal exports to Japan decreased by 45% and to the Netherlands by 43%. The Netherlands serves as the primary transhipment hub for the European Union (EU), importing coal and then sending it to other EU countries.
In 2020, US coal production decreased by 24% (166 million short t) from 2019 to 539 million short t. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the global downturn in coal demand, which had already been declining. As a share of coal production, coal exports represented 13% of total production in 2020, unchanged from the previous year.
Kamala Harris Gets Ice-Cold Reception on Trip to Promote Biden's Massive Spending Plan
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Milwaukee on Tuesday to promote President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill — only to be greeted by a handful of protesters against the infrastructure plan instead.
The official visit began with Harris rolling into the city on Air Force Two.
The vice president’s motorcade generated little enthusiasm among local residents.
Brendan Cullerton
@BCullerton
Motorcade for @VP rolls into Milwaukee as Kamala Harris will push @POTUS’s infrastructure plan. @Cole__Stevenson maintains you can see her waiving but I’m skeptical
https://twitter.com/i/status/1389629105428119555
A small group of protesters from Americans for Prosperity were among the few people who welcomed her.
Harris visited the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee’s clean energy laboratories, highlighting the impact the Biden administration’s American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, could make in the area.
UW-Milwaukee
@UWM
At #UWM’s clean energy laboratories, @VP Kamala Harris engages in a discussion on research and development investments in the American Jobs Plan and its impact on communities like #Milwaukee.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Harris said, according to WISN-TV. “People out there are going to say that’s too much. People are going to say well roads and bridges — to do the things you all are doing — things that are being created here — infrastructure is basically how are you going to get where you need to go.”
“When did we last invest? We need to do more than just catch up,” she said.
“We must invest with a sense of urgency. We need to invest in our universities, in our children, and in our people. It’s not going to be easy. But we must have investment in innovation,” Harris added.
Just HOW LONG will it take to "get going?" And in the meantime is the Biden admin going to further diminish the OIL industry? Rising prices, reliance on foreign oil... higher prices and taxes on the poor and middle class hurts no one but the middle and lower class people. No one in those tax brackets can afford a $63k electric car/truck.
The visit comes as the vice president has now gone more than 40 days since being tasked by President Joe Biden to address the root causes of the immigration spike since January and the resulting border crisis.
The Wisconsin GOP took to Twitter to remind Harris of the importance of her seeing the problem in person.
Wisconsin GOP
@wisgop
It seems that border manager @KamalaHarris got lost today. We made her a map to help her find her way.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin released a statement from Chairman Andrew Hitt ahead of the vice president’s visit.
“Kamala Harris should be visiting the southern border, given it has been nearly a month and a half since being tasked with managing the border crisis, and she still has not found time to address a problem that has spiraled out of control,” Hitt said.
“To make matters worse, she is coming to Wisconsin to promote Biden’s wasteful $6 trillion tax and spending plan that will ruin the economic recovery and saddle our children with insurmountable debt.”
Man your internet so slow VP Harris visit was two days ago
Good News the Biden Harris infrastructure plan speeds up the internet
Coal exports will ramp up again.
That good ol' "pandemic" only put a slight pause on things, and demand for coal will skyrocket again here soon.
They're going to need another "pandemic" or two if they want to even get close to tanking the industries like coal and oil. Curious how this "pandemic" has played out, with certain industries not being affected, and certain industries (that the radical left love) thriving, while the other industries (we'll call them the "dirty-polluters") have seen the most negative impacts. Makes you wonder.
Omertà
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