Coal news and updates

US weekly coal carloads down 7.4% from last year: AAR

The number of coal carloads originated by US railroads totaled 103,695 for the week ending January 11, down 7.4% from a year ago, according to the weekly rail traffic report issued Thursday by the Association of American Railroads.

Through the first two weeks of the year, coal carloads total 206,802, down 4.5% from last year.

Carloads for the week were likely impacted by the extreme weather that affected most of the nation during the week, especially for the Eastern carriers who reported significant declines.

In Week 2, the Canadian railroads, including the US operations of Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, originated 7,961 coal carloads, up 17.2% from the year-ago week, according to the Washington-based AAR.

For the year, coal carloads originated by the Canadian railroads total 15,689, up 5.9% from the same period last year.

For the week ending January 11, the four largest US railroads reported handling (which includes originations and interchange) the following weekly coal and coke carloads:

BNSF Railway reported 43,779 weekly coal carloads, up 3.5% from 2013. For the year, coal carloads are up 6.7% compared with the same period last year.

Union Pacific reported 31,286 weekly coal carloads, up 0.3% from the year-ago week. Year-to-date coal carloads total 66,457, up 1.9% from last year.

CSX reported 18,278 weekly coal carloads, down 22.7% from the year-ago week. For the year, coal carloads total 34,287, down 14.8%.

Norfolk Southern reported 19,005 weekly coal carloads, down 26.5% from the year-ago week. For the year, coal carloads total 36,913, down 25.4% from last year.

Weekly US originations of coke carloads, which includes petroleum coke and coke from coal, totaled 2,960 for the week ending January 11, down 15.5% from last year, according to the AAR. Year-to-date coke carloads total 6,589, down 7.5% from last year.

BNSF reported 548 coke carloads during the week, up 11.9% from last year. Year-to-date coke carloads total 1,075, up 9.8% from last year.

Union Pacific reported 411 weekly coke carloads, down 24.6% from the year-ago week. For the year, coke carloads total 1,003, down 5.6% from last year.

CSX reported 796 weekly coke carloads, down 41.7% from the year-ago week. For the year, coke carloads total 2,126, down 20.2%.

Norfolk Southern reported 936 weekly coke carloads, up 24.8% from the year-ago week. For the year, coke carloads total 1,686, down 6.2%.

Source: Platts