Lisa Bertlein
ATLANTA (Reuters) – CSX (NASDAQ:) will return to normal coal export operations at the Port of Baltimore this week after work crews cleared part of a deep channel serving the second-busiest U.S. trading hub for outbound coal shipments, the iron company’s CEO said. roads Wednesday.
CSX plans to accept and load the first large vessel at its Curtis Bay coal terminal on Saturday, Joe Hinrichs, CSX CEO, said at the Reuters Supply Chain conference in Atlanta.
“We are now starting to load trains at a normal pace” to support the normalization of coal production, Hinrichs said.
For the past 10 days, the railroad has been loading coal onto smaller ships that use smaller channels at the port, the CEO said.
CSX also operates CONSOL Energy’s (NYSE:) coal terminal at Baltimore Marine along with rival Norfolk Southern (New York Stock Exchange:).
Baltimore accounted for 28% of coal exports in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Earlier this week, work crews refloated and moved the container ship Dali, which crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, causing it to collapse. The accident paralyzed trade at the port, which specializes in coal, finished cars and other goods.
Hinrichs said CSX correctly estimated losses from the accident in April when it predicted the port closure could cause the railroad to lose $25 million to $30 million a month in coal revenue.
Based on updated export data, the success of rerouting coal shipments to alternative ports and progress in restarting trade through Baltimore, the EIA earlier this month revised its 2024 coal export forecast from the preliminary forecast released last month.
The EIA’s May forecast calls for a 1.1% decline in coal exports in 2024 compared to 2023. In early April, the agency predicted a decline of 5.3%.
The EIA’s March forecast, released before the bridge collapse, called for economic growth of about 1% this year.