The group said US coal carloads for the week ended December 7 totaled 104,994, down about 0.6% from the prior week ended November 30 and down 13.3% year-on-year.

Year-to-date, US coal carloads totaled 5,451,402, a drop of 4.4% from 2012 and 14.5% from 2011.

Total combined US weekly rail traffic, meanwhile, was 541,978 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.8% versus the comparable 2012 week.

Canadian railroads were down 4% over the prior year, reporting 76,505 carloads for the week ended December 7, while intermodal units were reported to be 5% higher at 54,485.

For the first 49 weeks of 2013, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,876,649 carloads, a rise of 2.2%.

In Mexico, railroads reported 15,280 carloads for the week, down 0.2% year-on-year, and intermodal units were down 7.7% to 10,387.

Cumulatively, Mexican railroads reported 746,975 carloads for the first 49 weeks, an increase of 6.3%.

The US Energy Information Administration reported a total of 18.4 million tons for the week ended December 7, which was a3.4% drop over the sequential week and 6.5% drop year-on-year.

In the coke sector, totals were also down, according to the AAR. For the same week period, US coke carloads were 3,812, down 16.2% from the prior week and 4.6% from 2012’s same period.

Year-to-date, coke carloads have totaled 182,904 units, an increase of 8.2% year-on-year.