Total US coal carload volumes have fallen for three straight weeks to a new year-low mark, Association of American Railroads data showed Wednesday.
For the week ending May 6, the AAR reported 73,386 coal carloads traveled US railways, down from 75,662 carloads the previous week but up 17.7% from the year-ago week. Coal counts were last lower the final week of 2016 at 68,939 carloads.
Despite recent declines as demand dips during the spring shoulder season, coal volumes year to date are up 17.7%, or about 234,000 carloads, compared to the first 18 weeks of 2016.
Canadian railroads -- including the US operations of Canadian National, which serves several mines in the Illinois Basin, and Canadian Pacific -- originated 7,720 coal carloads, down 0.2% from the previous week but up 32.9% from the same week last year.
Canadian coal volumes are up 4.2% year to date.
