US coal carload volumes increased for the sixth straight week, Association of American Railroads data showed Wednesday, as utilities continue to build stocks during the seasonal swing from spring into summer.
For the week ending June 17, the AAR reported 87,066 coal carloads traveled US railways, up 1.8% from the previous week and up 15.1% from the year-ago week.
Volumes were last higher in mid-February have grown every week since falling to year-low 73,386 carloads in the first week of May.
Coal counts year to date are up 18.7%, or about 310,000 carloads, compared to the first 24 weeks of 2016.
Canadian railroads -- including the US operations of Canadian National, which serves several mines in the Illinois Basin, and Canadian Pacific -- saw originations climb for the third straight week to 7,387 coal carloads, up 2.5% from the previous week and up 16% from the same week last year.
Canadian coal volumes are up 3.9% year to date.
