US weekly chemical railcar traffic falls 3.7%

27 March 2008 17:38  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--US chemical railcar traffic for the week ended 22 March fell 3.7% from the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said on Thursday.

 

Chemical railcar loadings for the week totalled 30,067, compared with 31,225 for the same week in 2007, the association said.

 

Total chemical railcar loadings in the year-to-date period through 22 March came to 370,331, up 3.0% from the same period in 2007.

 

The AAR did not cite reasons for the increase in chemicals shipments.

 

Analysts consider rail shipment data to be a good early indicator of current chemical industry activity. Railroads transport more than 20% of the chemicals produced in the US.

 

Railcar loadings for all 19 commodities tracked by the AAR were 323,536 in the week.

 

This was decrease of 3.3% compared with 334,414 in the same week of 2007, as gains in shipments of metallic ores, grain and coal were offset by a decline in shipments of motor vehicles and equipment, lumber and wood products, as well as crushed stone, sand and gravel.

 

Overall railcar loadings for the 19 commodity categories listed by the AAR reached 3.84m year to date through 22 March, up 0.8% when compared with the same period of 2007, the association said.

 

By: Stefan Baumgarten
+1 713 525 2653

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