Coal carloads and revenues fell significantly for Canadian National during the first quarter, the Montreal-based railroad said Monday.
Citing weaker North American and global demand, CN said coal carloads totaled 79,000 during the period, down 31.3% from the same quarter a year ago, while coal revenues totaled C$93 million ($73.3 million), down 41.5% from the same quarter a year ago.
"The reset of coal continues," Jean-Jacques Ruest, the railroad's chief marketing officer, said during the company's Q1 earnings call. "We expect coal to continue volume declines until a bottom is found ... [likely] late into 2017 for coal."
Lower demand negatively affected export shipments of thermal coal through the US Gulf Coast, where CN serves the Convent Marine Terminal in Convent, Louisiana, as well as fewer metallurgical coal exports through Canada's West Coast, the company said. Shipments to US utilities also were down during the quarter.
Average revenue per coal carload totaled C$1,177 in Q1, down 14.9% from C$1,383 in the year-ago quarter.
The railroad noted coal now represents just 3.1% of its total revenues, the lowest of major Class I North American railroads.
