US coal stockpiles finish week at 126 million st: Bentek

Houston (Platts)--11Jul2014/601 pm EDT/2201 GMT

The decline in US coal stockpiles for the week ended Thursday, July 10, slowed as lower temperatures and increased coal production, particularly in the Powder River Basin, meant US inventories ended the week at 126 million st, down 1 million st from the prior week, Bentek Energy said Friday.

A drop in electricity demand during the week resulted in a 5% drop in daily US coal consumption, according to Bentek, which is a unit of Platts.

The most recent stockpile estimate total is down 23% from both the year-ago figure and the five-year minimum range.

US coal stockpiles peaked around June 5 at roughly 136 million st and have dipped every week since, with the steepest decline in the week ended July 3, when stockpiles fell more than 2.5 million st.

--Andrew Moore, andrew.moore@platts.com --Edited by Richard Rubin, richard.rubin@platts.com

 

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