Coal news and updates

Dwindling global, domestic demand drops coal volumes for Canadian National

Mine closures, weaker global demand for metallurgical coal and a continued decline in domestic demand for thermal coal in both Canada and the US have led to a further drop in coal volumes for Canadian National Railway, officials said Monday in a second-quarter earnings call.

Jean-Jacques Ruest, CN's chief marketing officer, said high US utility stockpiles and the continued low price of natural gas have pushed down domestic coal volumes for the railroad.

Ruest added that Canadian mines are "really struggling with global oversupply" that has led to mine closures and reduced production.

Coal on CN rails was down 26% in the second quarter, dropping to 105,000 carloads from 141,000 carloads in the year-ago period.

Luc Jobin, CN's chief financial officer, said the railroad was seeing "weaker conditions than expected in many markets, including energy and coal."

Year to date, coal carloads are down 17% for CN, falling to 220,000 carloads from 266,000 carloads in 2014.

CN serves coal export terminals in Vancouver and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, as well as the Thunder Bay terminal in Ontario.

sources: http://www.platts.com