Ethanol, ferts drive US chem railcar loadings

09 September 2008 15:07  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--US chemical railcar shipments continue to be driven by rising ethanol and fertilizer volumes, Deutsche Bank said on Tuesday.

 

Weekly chemical railcar loadings were up 6.9% in the week ended 30 August, compared with the year-earlier week, with the four-week moving average up 3.4%, Deutsche said in an analysis of the latest data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

 

Excluding ethanol the four-week average was up about 0.2%, Deutsche said.

 

“With loadings tracking DoE [US Department of Energy] ethanol blending data - which are up 28% through August - we suspect ethanol continues to boost chemicals railcar data,” the analysts said.

 

A further boost to chemical railcar shipments came from rising fertilizer volumes which represented about 20% of chemical loadings, the analysts said.

 

Chemical railcar loadings represented some 21% of total US chemical shipment tonnage, offering an indication of the industry's commodity trends and activity, Deutsche said.

 

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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