Coal exports from the Ridley Terminals in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, jumped to a six-year high of 1.02 million metric tons (mt) in September, up 18.6% from 861,506 mt in August and the highest in a month since 1.09 million mt was exported in September 2013, according to S&P Global Platts.
The total, which combines metallurgical and thermal coal, was up 68.4% from the year-ago month and up 120% from the five-year average for September.
In the first nine months of the year, 6.69 million mt coal was exported, which was up 13.4% from the same period a year ago and was the most through September since 8.21 million mt was exported in 2013.
Met coal exports from the terminal were at 678,208 mt in September, up 25.2% from August and 58% higher than the year-ago month. It was the highest monthly exports for met coal since 763,654 mt in December 2013.
Since January 1, met exports were at 4.36 million mt, up 0.4% from a year ago and the highest since 6 million mt in 2013.
Thermal coal exports were at 343,801 mt in September, up 7.5% from August and 93.3% higher than the year-ago month.
The terminal is served by Canadian National railroad. The largest customer is Conuma Coal Resources, a met coal producer in British Columbia.
