Since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the United States, coal exports from the United States port of Baltimore had been completely disrupted, but have now recovered significantly.

On March 26 this year, a Singaporean container freighter “Dali” hit the abutment of the “Francis Scott Key” Bridge in Baltimore, leading to the collapse of the bridge, which is about 2.6 kilometers long. The accident led to the following two months, the Port of Baltimore coal exports were seriously affected, until late May, the main shipping lanes to the Port of Baltimore can be reopened.

The Port of Baltimore is the second-largest coal export hub in the U.S., with approximately 28.1 million short tons (25,492,000 tons) of coal exported through the port's two major coal loading terminals in 2023, or about 28 percent of total U.S. coal exports.

Coal exports from the Port of Baltimore fell sharply in April due to the accident-affected channel outage, with only 63,658 short tons exported, compared to 2.3 million short tons exported during the same month a year earlier.

However, port shipments continued despite the channel shutdown, and one of the terminals, which allows for the use of barges to deliver smaller cargoes to ships anchored in the Chesapeake Bay, maintained a small portion of export activity while port operations came to a virtual standstill.

Coal shipments from the Port of Baltimore rebounded sharply after the partial reopening of the port's main channel on May 21, and on June 10 the lane was fully restored to its previous navigational width, ACS data showed.

U.S. Energy Information Administration data show that in May and June of this year, Baltimore Port coal shipments rebounded rapidly, with exports recovering to just under 1 million short tons in May, and with the terminal processing backlogs underway, the port's coal exports soared to 2.9 million short tons in June, the highest in history since 2000 when data were recorded. Shipments then fell slightly in July to around 2 million short tons, but remained above the average for the past five years.

Typically, coal exports from ports are lower in July because miners, railroads and port terminals usually perform maintenance in July. This year, coal exports increased sharply in July, making up for the shortfall caused by the suspension of exports in April and May.

Looking ahead, coal exports from the Port of Baltimore are expected to remain strong for the remainder of the year, with full-year exports expected to remain consistent with previous years, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

In 2023, coal exports from the port had been the highest in five years. While it remains to be seen whether actual exports in 2024 will surpass last year's, full-year exports are expected to meet or exceed the 20 million short tons levels of 2021 and 2022.

Article Source：sxcoal.com