US coal train loadings have fallen for the first time in a month as volumes declined from the eastern basins, Surface Transportation Board filings show.
Data filed by the four major US railroads -- CSX, Union Pacific, BSNF and Norfolk Southern -- for the week ended June 2 shows nationwide coal loadings averaged 94.6 trains/d, down from 97 trains/d the previous week.
Increased activity in the Powder River Basin was offset by weakening in the basins east of the Mississippi River. Central Appalachia fell the furthest, with coal loading volumes down to 14.7 trains/d from 16.7 trains/d the previous week.
Northern Appalachian volumes fell to 9.3 trains/d from 10.6 trains/d, and counts from the Illinois Basin slid to 7.8 trains/d from 8.1 trains/d.
PRB loadings grew for the fourth straight week, with volumes up to 55.7 trains/d from 54.3 trains/d the prior week.
Outside the major production areas, Utica Basin loadings were down to 3.6 trains/d from 3.9 trains/d and loadings from outside the primary basins were flat at 3.4 trains/d.
