US coal train loadings dropped 1.2% on week due to decrease in shipments across major basins except Northern Appalachia.
Data filed with the federal Surface Transportation Board by the four major US railroads -- CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF and Norfolk Southern -- for the week shows US coal loadings averaged 93.6 trains/d, down from 94.7 trains/d the previous week, a decrease of 1.2% from the week prior and 0.5% from 2017.
Powder River Basin loadings was down, for the third straight week, to 50 trains/d from 51.6 trains/d, a drop of 3.1% the previous week and 4.9% from 2017.
Central Appalachian totals decreased for the second straight week, down to 15.7 trains/d from 16.1 trains/d, a drop of 2.7% from the week prior and 1.6% compared to 2017.
Elsewhere in the east, Illinois Basin loadings decreased to 7.9 trains/d from 8.5 trains/d, while Northern Appalachian loadings were up to 12.5 trains/d, an increase of 18.1 % from 11 trains/d the week prior and 19.1% from 2017.
In other production areas, Utica Basin loadings were down to 3.6 trains/d from 4.3 trains/d, a decrease of 16% from the week prior, while loadings from the outside the primary basins climbed to 3.9 trains/d from 3.6 trains/d, an increase 8% from the week prior.
