Houston (Platts)--15 Oct 2015 256 pm EDT/1856 GMT

Weekly US coal production totaled an estimated 17.1 million st in the week that ended Saturday, down 3.5% from the prior week and 11.4% from the same week a year ago, US Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday.

The week-on-week decline comes as US utility stockpiles remain relatively strong compared with 2014. Bentek Energy last week estimated US coal stockpiles at 154 million st, up more than 20% from last year. Bentek is a unit of Platts.

For the week, coal production in Wyoming and Montana, mostly made up of Powder River Basin production, totaled an estimated 8 million st, down 2.3% from the prior week and down 9.6% compared with the year-ago week.

Year-to-date coal output in Wyoming and Montana is estimated to total 321.4 million st, down 4.4% from the same period a year ago.

In Central Appalachia, weekly coal output totaled an estimated 2 million st, down 7.4% from the prior week and down 16.3% from last year. Year-to-date coal production is estimated to total 88.3 million st, down 16.9% from last year.

Weekly coal production in Northern Appalachia totaled an estimated 2.2 million st, down 5.6% from the prior week and 12.8% from last year. Year to date, coal production is estimated to total 93.4 million st, down 10.1% from last year.

In the Illinois Basin, weekly coal production totaled an estimated 2.5 million st, down 0.7% from the prior week and 5.6% from last year. For the year, Illinois Basin coal production is estimated to total 102.2 million st, down 3.6% through the same period a year ago.

Year to date, US coal production totals an estimated 708.4 million st, down 8.5% compared with last year. At the current run rate, annualized 2015 coal production would total 898.5 million st, down 9.9%, from last year.

--Andrew Moore, andrew.moore@platts.com
--Edited by Valarie Jackson, valarie.jackson@platts.com

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