In the next 5 years, 175 coal-burning power plants in the United States are predicted to close, which represents 8.5% of total electricity produced by coal in that country. Globally, however, 1,100 new coal-burning power plants are forecasted to open. So U.S. coal mining companies are looking to export coal to foreign markets where coal is increasingly in demand.
Unlike Mongolia, which depends almost exclusively on China as an export market, the United States ships its coal to many different nations. Last year, the European Union was the largest destination for U.S. coal exports, accounting for 45 percent of exports, followed by Asia, which accounted for 26 percent. No single country imported more than 12 percent of total U.S. coal exports. And the United States was only the 8th largest source of Chinese coal imports.
In 2012, 125 million tons of coal was exported from the United States, 12 percent higher than the previous record set in 1981, and industry insiders are predicting that coal exports will double in five years if new ports are opened on the West coast and Gulf Coast and other ports are expanded.
(Edited from Associated Press)