US coal train loadings volumes dipped week on week with counts falling from year-high levels in both Northern Appalachia and the Illinois Basin.
Data filed by the four major US railroads -- CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF and Norfolk Southern -- for the week ending September 1 shows nationwide coal loadings averaged 111.8 trains/d, down from 112 trains/d the previous week.
IB loadings slid to 8.2 trains/d from 9.4 trains/d, and NAPP loadings dipped to 13.4 trains/d from 13.8 trains/d.
Powder River Basin counts, which fell the prior week, increased to 63.5 trains/d from 62.7 trains/d.
Central Appalachian loadings built on year-high volumes the previous week by climbing to 18.2 trains/d from 17.6 trains/d. Producers have noted continued seaborne interest in both thermal and metallurgical coals despite a slow domestic market.
In other production areas, Utica Basin loadings decreased to 4.1 trains/d from to a year-high 5.1 trains/d, while loadings from the outside the primary basins increased to 4.7 trains/d from 3.7 trains/d.
