Houston (Platts)--1May2015/253 pm EDT/1853 GMT

US coal stockpiles totaled an estimated 165.6 million st for the week ended April 30, up 1.6% from the prior week and 29.2% from a year ago, Platts unit Bentek Energy said Friday.

Utility coal consumption totaled 13.4 million st as it increased 2% with gains in the MISO and ERCOT regions, Bentek said.

While recent coal consumption has been increasing, consumption is still 7% off from the same period last year.

Coal production gains outweighed the increased consumption totaling 17.9 million st for the week, an increase of 6% from the prior week, Bentek said. Coal production is still down 5% on a year-to-date basis.

--Jeffrey McDonald, jeffrey.mcdonald@platts.com
--Edited by Richard Rubin, richard.rubin@platts.com

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