US coal carload volumes have dipped for three straight weeks since climbing to a 2017 high, according to data released Wednesday by the Association of American Railroads.
For the week that ended September 9, the AAR reported 92,488 coal carloads traveled US railways, down 2.1% from the previous week but up 6.1% from the year-ago week.
Volumes have fallen since a 2017-best 97,873 carloads was posted in the week that ended August 19 as the fall shoulder season takes hold.
Coal carloads are up 13.8% so far in 2017, or about 371,000 carloads, compared with the first 36 weeks of 2016, according to the AAR data.
Canadian railroads -- which include the US operations of Canadian National, which serves several mines in the Illinois Basin, and Canadian Pacific -- saw originations climb to 8,007 coal carloads, up 0.9% from the previous week and up 4.6% from the same week last year.
Canadian coal carloads are up 5.1% so far in 2017, the data show.
