US coal carload volumes fell for the first time in seven weeks but remained well above year-ago counts, Association of American Railroads data showed Wednesday.
For the week ending June 24, the AAR reported 85,975 coal carloads traveled US railways, down 1.3% from the previous week but up 11.2% from the year-ago week.
The week-over-week decline marked the first slide in volumes since nationwide totals fell to a year-low mark of 73,386 carloads in early May. Coal counts year to date are up 18.4%, or about 319,000 carloads, compared to the first 25 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 fourth straight week to 8,271 coal carloads, up 12% from the previous week and up 5.3% from the same week last year.
Canadian coal volumes are up 4% year to date.
