Canada's Ridley Terminals coal exports fall 44.5% on year

Coal exports from Ridley Terminals in British Colombia dropped to 373,310 mt in March, down 37.3% on the month and 44.1% on the year, Price Rupert Port Authority data showed April 22.

It was a six-year low for the corresponding month.

The total combines metallurgical and thermal coal and was 53.1% lower than the five-year average for March. On a year-to-date basis, exports were more than triple the 2021 period.

Roughly 140,287 mt of met coal was exported from the terminals in March, down 51.7% on the month and 73% on the year. It was a six-year low for the corresponding month. On a year-to-date basis, met exports were 626,802 mt, down 45% from the year-ago period.

Thermal coal exports were about 233,023 mt, down 23.5% on the month but up 57.3% on the year. Year-to-date thermal exports were 611,284 mt, down 37.9% from the year-ago period. The most recent S&P Global Commodity Insights assessment for FOB Vancouver 5,000 NAR coal was $56.95/st April 21.

Petroleum coke exports were 51.7% higher on the month at 75,103 mt, a three-month high. Year to date, 184,847 mt of petcoke was exported from the Canadian terminals, down 41.4% from the 2021 period. It was the highest petcoke volume exported in March in three years.