Barry, Vale of Glamorgan dock basin was opened in 1889 to be followed by two other docks and extensive port installations. The Barry Railway brought coal down from the South Wales Valleys to the new docks whose trade grew from one million tons in the first year, to over nine million tons by 1903. The port was crowded with ships and had flourishing ship repair yards, cold stores, flour mills and an ice factory. By 1913, Barry was the largest coal exporting port in the world. Behind the docks rose the terraced houses of Barry which, with Cadoxton, soon formed a sizeable town. The
Coal mining in the United States Coal mining in the United States Coal mining in the United States is an industry in transition. Production in 2017 was down 33% from the peak production of 1,162.7 million tons (about 1054.8 million metric tonnes) in 2006. Employment of 50,000 coal miners is down from a peak of 883,000 in 1923. Generation of electricity is the largest user of coal, being used to produce 50% of electric power in 2005 and 30% in 2016. The U.S. is a net exporter of coal. U.S. coal exports, for which Europe is the largest customer, peaked in 2012. In 2015, the U.S.