Today the West provides 45 percent of the nation's total production. Total U.S. production of coal reached one billion tons in 1990, an historic high. The leading coal producing states are Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Some coal produced in the United States is exported to other countries. The five biggest foreign markets for U.S. coal are Japan, Canada, Italy, Brazil, and Belgium.
Electricity is the main use.
Last year 88 percent of all the coal used in the United States was for electricity production. Another major use of coal is in iron and steelmaking. The iron industry uses coke ovens to melt iron ore. Coke, an almost pure carbon residue of coal, is used as a fuel in smelting metals. The United States has the finest coking coals in the world.