US coal train loadings climbed to the highest average daily volume in nearly four months in the week that ended June 9 as shipments across all basins rose, with the steepest increase in the east of the country, US Surface Transportation Board filings show.
Data filed by the four major US railroads -- CSX, Union Pacific, BSNF and Norfolk Southern -- for the week that ended June 9 shows nationwide coal loadings averaged 101.6 trains/d, up from 94.6 trains/d the previous week.
Loadings were last higher in the week that ended February 17 at 105.2 trains/d and had stayed out of the triple digits for 15 straight weeks until the latest report.
Loadings increased week on week in all the major eastern basins, with Central Appalachian shipments climbing to a six-week high. CAPP loadings rose to 17.1 trains/d from 14.7 trains/d a week earlier.
Northern Appalachian volumes increased to a 15-week high of 11.2 trains/d from 9.3 trains/d, and Illinois Basin shipments climbed to 8.5 trains/d from 7.8 trains/d, the data show.
Powder River Basin loadings grew for the fifth straight week, with volumes increasing to 56.3 trains/d from 55.7 trains/d.
Utica Basin coal loadings were up to 4.3 trains/d from 3.6 trains/d and loadings from the outside primary basins were up to 4.2 trains/d from 3.4 trains/d.
