I know one of the UP trains is loaded into barges and heads out the intracostal to the Mississippi.
The rest goes via ocean going ship.
The canal part was a reply to Chicagorails comment about containers...silly me forgot to quote it...
The bulk material plant is undergoing a major upgrade, even getting its own yard, new load out and such, so I have a feeling the coal flow might be expected to increase...same place loads out a lot of coke too, at least 2 unit trains a day, and Shell, right across the ship channel, has its own coke plant and load out dock to ocean going vessels.
Shell is of course, petroleum coke, but one of the unit trains we get, from Sweeny Texas, is coal coke, looks like it would be used in steel making.