U.S. delivered coal costs, which reflect commodity and transportation costs, have declined steadily since 2010 (in constant 2017 dollars per ton). In 2019, the average transportation cost of coal was $15.03 per ton, down from $16.07 per ton in 2018. Transportation costs accounted for about 40% of the total delivered cost of coal in 2019, down 1% compared with the previous year. In the past 10 years, coal commodity costs have fallen faster than transportation costs. As a result, transportation’s share of the total delivered cost of coal has increased since 2008, when transportation accounted for about one-third of the total cost.
