Coal Exports Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

UMWA President: We Can Mine More Coal, But Who Will Buy It?

Domestically, coal has declined to 15% of electric power generation. There are few signs that utilities are about to reverse their long decommitment from coal.

United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts says he’s supportive of efforts to ramp up coal production. That means more jobs and tax revenues for coal-producing states, including his native West Virginia.

But as Roberts pointed out in a phone interview, what’s missing is a marketplace for it. Half of West Virginia’s coal production is exported, but that’s under threat from a Trump administration trade proposal.

Domestically, coal has declined to 15% of electric power generation. There are few signs that utilities are about to reverse their long decommitment from coal.

“In order to double the production of coal, you have to have a place for it to go. That seems to be the first hurdle here, where are we going to sell this coal? And who’s going to buy it?”

“There’s places around the world that are still using coal, where we’re taking advantage of that. We’re about to lose that possibility here, as opposed to having a marketplace where we can survive in a manner that we have been we’re going to lose that if we don’t fix that. That’s number one.”

Roberts says bringing back domestic steel production would increase demand for metallurgical coal. Nucor is building a steel plant in Mason County, though it will be powered by electricity, and at least some of that electricity will be generated by renewables.

“Number two, we have to have a marketplace here in United States. If it’s going to be a domestic marketplace, then we have to have a steel industry. We’re going to mine more met coal and sell it in the United States. We can mine all the met coal that you could possibly mine. That’s got to go somewhere. Somebody’s got to buy it.”

Roberts has announced he’s retiring from the UMWA in October.

UMWA’s Roberts: Trump Policies Could Harm Coal Miners, Exports

UMWA President Cecil Roberts said Trump’s proposed fees on international shipping and cuts to safety and health agencies threaten the competitiveness of coal and the health and safety of mine workers.

The president of the United Mine Workers of America is criticizing Trump administration policies he says could negatively affect coal miners and coal exports.

“There is a perfect storm brewing in America’s coalfields that will have the effect of destroying thousands of coal miners’ jobs and significantly increase the risks those miners who are left will face to their health and safety on the job,” Roberts said in a statement Tuesday.

A quarter of the coal mined in the United States is exported, including half the coal mined in West Virginia. The U.S. Trade Representative, however, has proposed a fee of up to $1.5 million each time a Chinese-built ship docks at a U.S. port.

The West Virginia Coal Association opposes the fee. Roberts said it would close mines, causing thousands of layoffs – and soon.

“This proposal is designed to help rebuild the American shipbuilding industry over years, and we support that principle,” he said. “But today, most exported U.S. coal is carried on Chinese-made ships.”

Roberts is also critical of the federal government’s termination of office leases for the Mine Safety and Health Administration, as well as cuts to the staff of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

“From what we have learned, MSHA personnel still have no idea if or when they will be moving to a new location or even if they will have a job any longer,” Roberts said, referring to the potential closure of 34 agency offices.

The “significant downsizing” of personnel at NIOSH offices in Pittsburgh and Morgantown, West Virginia, “are particularly devastating to the coal industry,” Roberts said.

Both agencies have improved the safety and health of coal miners, he said.

Coal Industry Group: Trump’s Chinese Ship Fees Would Hurt State

In written testimony submitted earlier this month, West Virginia Coal Association President Chris Hamilton said the fees would have a detrimental impact on West Virginia coal production.

The U.S. Trade Representative held a hearing this week on a proposal to charge fees of up to $1.5 million on Chinese ships that dock at U.S. ports.

In written testimony submitted earlier this month, West Virginia Coal Association President Chris Hamilton said the fees would have a detrimental impact on West Virginia coal production.

“No matter how well-motivated the proposed trade action may be,” Hamilton wrote, “if completed it will have an immediate and adverse impact on coal production and employment in the state of West Virginia and other coal-producing regions and states.”

Hamilton said the export market is a substantial part of the state’s coal industry. About half the coal it produces every year is exported, and that percentage is growing, he said.

Hamilton said West Virginia is the nation’s leading coal exporter and its coal has replaced lower quality coal or Russian coal in many nations in Europe and Asia.

But he said the imposition of the ship fees would price West Virginia coal out of the seaborne energy market.

“The adverse consequences of limiting West Virginia coal exports will extend beyond economic impacts to the state,” Hamilton wrote, “and include our allies and global energy trading partners that are increasingly relying on U.S.-mined coal to avoid energy-driven political entanglements with hostile nations.”

Hamilton’s name is listed among the witnesses scheduled to speak Wednesday at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington.

The goal of Trump’s proposal is to end China’s dominance in global shipping and logistics.

Report: Trump Fee On Chinese Ships Could Cut U.S. Coal Exports

In an effort to end China’s dominance in international shipping, the Trump administration wants to charge fees from $1 million to $1.5 million for Chinese ships and Chinese companies to dock at U.S. ports.

A plan by the Trump administration to charge a fee on Chinese ships and Chinese shipping companies to dock at U.S. ports could lower coal exports, a group says.

The policy would mandate exporters to use U.S.-flagged, U.S. made ships, but they could get an exception for using non-U.S. vessels provided the exporter uses U.S.-built ships for at least 20% of the products it exports.

A combination of all of these, according to a report from an ad-hoc coalition of farmers, manufacturers and retailers, and logistics and transportation providers, could reduce U.S. coal exports alone by nearly 25%.

The ports of Norfolk and Baltimore are the top two coal-export terminals in the country, and a significant portion of the coal they export is mined in West Virginia.

About half the coal mined in West Virginia is exported, according to the West Virginia Coal Association.

The Friends of Coal opposes the fees and urged its members to submit comments to the U.S. Trade Representative by March 25.

Most of the coal West Virginia exports is transported by rail. The Association of American Railroads, the industry’s principal trade group, is named in the report.

The proposed fees, the report concludes, could reduce U.S. GDP and worsen the trade deficit.

The report also says the policy could affect agricultural commodities and other industrial products, including automobiles.

It has the potential to divert container ship traffic from U.S. ports to Canada and Mexico, the report says.

Coal Producers Worry About China’s Tariff In Response To Trump

China has responded to President Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on Chinese imports with its own 15% tariff on U.S. coal.

The United States exports relatively little coal to China – 11.6 million tons of it in 2024, a fraction of what China imports overall.

Yet of that quantity it received from the U.S., more than 6 million tons of it came from West Virginia, according to the West Virginia Coal Association.

China has responded to President Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on Chinese imports with its own 15% tariff on U.S. coal.

Though it’s possible that the U.S. and China will come to an agreement that cancels the tariffs or puts them on hold – much as Canada and Mexico did after Trump imposed tariffs on those countries – Chris Hamilton, the coal association’s president, says he’s concerned about the impact of tariffs on coal.

West Virginia leads the nation in coal exports, Hamilton says, and they account for about half of the state’s coal output.

The state produced 86 million tons of coal last year. It was shipped to 30 states and 45 countries.

Most of the coal West Virginia produces is thermal coal, the kind used to make electricity. But most of the coal it exports is metallurgical, the kind used in steelmaking.

Domestic consumption of thermal coal has been in steady decline as natural gas and now renewables have eroded its market share.

This story was distributed by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKYU in Kentucky and NPR.

Norfolk Southern’s Coal Exports Top Domestic Volume In 2024

The Atlanta-based railroad hauled shy of 30 million tons of domestic coal in 2024 and 33 million tons of export coal. The railroad’s coal domestic and export tons were about the same in 2023.

Norfolk Southern transported more coal for export last year than it did for domestic power production, according to the railroad’s fourth quarter earnings report.

The Atlanta-based railroad hauled shy of 30 million tons of domestic coal in 2024 and 33 million tons of export coal. The railroad’s coal domestic and export tons were about the same in 2023.

Historically domestic coal has dominated for Norfolk Southern and its principal rival, CSX, but the years-long decline in coal as a fuel for U.S. electricity has flipped the order.

In another sign of the shift, Norfolk Southern’s domestic coal haul fell 16% in the fourth quarter, while export tons increased 13%.

Norfolk Southern transports central Appalachian coal to the port of Norfolk, Virginia, and northern Appalachian coal to the port of Baltimore.

Norfolk Southern operates the second-most miles of track in West Virginia behind CSX.

CSX last week reported its fourth quarter results. The railroad’s presentation showed that it, too, hauled more export coal than domestic coal in 2024.

On Tuesday, Norfolk Southern reached a $22 million settlement with East Palestine, Ohio, over a 2023 derailment and fire that displaced residents and contaminated air, water and soil in the area with toxic chemicals.