US coal carload counts grew for the third week to a reach a new year-high mark, Association of American Railroads data showed Wednesday.
For the week ending July 29 the AAR reported 92,430 coal carloads traveled US railways, up 4.7% from the previous week and 2.4% higher than the year-ago week. The latest count topped the previous 2017-best 92,222 carloads in the week ending February 4.
Volumes were last higher the week ending November 19 at 94,751 carloads, which was a 2016 high.
Coal counts year to date are up 15.8%, or about 340,000 carloads, compared to the first 30 weeks of 2016.
Canadian railroads, which include the US operations of Canadian National, which serves several mines in the Illinois Basin, and Canadian Pacific, saw originations grow to 7,679 coal carloads, up 14.1% from the previous week and up 7.9% from the same week last year.
Canadian coal volumes are up 4% year to date.
