Western Railroad Discussion > Coal Exports by port

Link
http://www.statejournal.com/story/20118982/norfolk-new-orleans-top-us-ports-for-exporting-coal

Where is coal exported in or around Seattle? I know of no facility that currently handles coal in Everett, Seattle or Tacoma. Anyone have thoughts on that; because that sure creates some questions about the rest of the numbers.

it says in the article that the coal shipped from Seattle is exported via Rail to Canada,

"Among the top export facilities, only New Orleans and Seattle primarily export steam coal. While the majority of U.S. exports are met coal, growing steam coal demand is fueling 2012 exports to an expected all-time high."

This implies the coal is exported through a "facility" in Seattle (or a facility within its customs district). Again, I know of no such facility; can anyone add to that?

"...although the Seattle customs district has seen rapid growth over the past several years exporting steam coal via rail to Canada, where it is then shipped to Asia."

Later in the article, are they now saying that 3.3 million tons of coal are generated in the Seattle "customs district" that is exported through BC? I'd like to know where 3.3 million tons of coal is mined around Seattle. That's about a train every other day - the old Black Diamond mine on the Stampede Pass never produced that volume of coal.

It appears that since they talking about steam coal, it would likely mean PRB coal from Wyoming that goes through Seattle. Last year, BNSF moved between 9 and 12 million tons to Canada, so again, the numbers reported in the article are questionable.

So one has to wonder what's the source of this information, and whether the rest of the article has any validity.

They must have got the 3.3 million tons for the first 8 months of this year from this government report.

http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=8790#tabs_SpotPriceSlider-1

Other coal stuff.

http://www.eia.gov/coal/production/quarterly/

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p510/ch05.html#en_US_publink1000117244

http://www.westshore.com/ says they moved 8 million tons of US originated coal.


The coal is just passing through on the way out of the country
and Seattle is where US Customs handles the paper work.