By Jim Levesque and Jason Lindquist

May 22, 2017 - US coal train loadings rebounded after declines in three straight weeks dropped volumes to a year-low count, Surface Transportation Board filings show.

Data filed by the four major US railroads -- CSX, Union Pacific, BSNF and Norfolk Southern -- for the week ended May 12 shows nationwide coal loadings averaged 86.4 trains/d, up from 82.4 trains/d the previous week. US loadings had been last lower the final week of 2016 at 81.1 trains/d.

The recovery in coal volumes was seen mostly in the Powder River Basin, with smaller increases in Central Appalachia and the Illinois Basin.

PRB coal loadings averaged 47.4 trains/d in the latest reports, up from a year-low 44.5 trains/d the previous week. PRB counts had last been lower the week of May 27, 2016, at 41.4 trains/d.

CAPP loadings grew to 16.6 trains/d from 15.2 trains/d the prior week. CAPP volumes have strengthened with an uptick in the metallurgical export market and reached a 17-month high of 17.4 trains/d the last week of April. CAPP counts have remained above 15 trains/d since mid-March.

Illinois Basin loadings increased to 6.9 trains/d from 6.3 trains/d, while Northern Appalachia loadings slipped to 9.4 trains/d from 9.5 trains/d.

Elsewhere, Utica Basin loadings fell to 3 trains/d from 3.7 trains/d and loadings from outside the primary basins were flat at 3.1 trains/d.