US coal shipments remained frozen as of August 30 as Hurricane Ida forced shutdowns of rail, barge, and port services. Market participants said many coal carriers were still moored around ports in the New Orleans region. However, they could not monitor the situation at terminals and other distribution points due to shut communication and power outages.
At the same time, the US Coast Guard maintains port condition Zulu in place in some ports, which requires them to halt operations. The Lower Mississippi River is expected to remain closed for vessel traffic until the Coast Guard completes a complete check on possible disruptions, sinkings, or groundings on the whole river. The check is estimated to take one to two days, market sources said.
Meanwhile, train movements were also interrupted by Ida. The New Orleans Rail Gateway was closed at 2:00 PM on Saturday following flood gate closures. New Orleans shipped 5.33 million tons of thermal coal in January-June of 2021, up from 1.74 million a year earlier, according to US Census Bureau Data.
