March coal exports from Virginia's Hampton Roads region totaled 4.35 million st, up 1.4% from February but down 23.7% from the year-ago month, the Virginia Maritime Association said Monday.
Neither the association nor the individual terminals comment on monthly export data, but the year-over-year decline is likely due to weak overseas pricing for both metallurgical and thermal coal.
Through March, year-to-date coal exports from the three terminals are down 12.7% compared with the first three months of 2013.
Lambert's Point, which is owned and operated by Norfolk, Virginia-based Norfolk Southern, exported 1.755 million st in March, up 3.1% from February but down 28.8% from last year. Year-to-date exports total 4.679 million st, down 14.9% compared with 2013.
Pier IX, owned and operated by Houston-based Kinder Morgan, exported 889,244 st in March, down 21.5% from February and down 48.8% compared with the year-ago month. Year-to-date exports total 3.270 million st, down 23.4% from 2013.
Dominion Terminal Associates, which is owned by Arch Coal, Peabody Energy and Alpha Natural Resources, exported 1.709 million st in March, up 17.3% from February and up 13.3% from the year-ago month. Year-to-date exports total 4.331 million st, up 0.7% from 2013.
Coastwise coal shipments to domestic US locations from the terminals in March totaled 166,965 st, up more than 150% from February and up 3.3% from last year.
The three terminals combined to export 49.687 million st in 2013, which was up 2.7% from 2012, when the US notched a record 126 million st of coal exports.