US chem railcar traffic falls 8.9% due to Gustav

11 September 2008 16:37  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--US chemical railcar traffic for the week ended 6 September plunged 8.9% from the same week last year, largely due to the impacts of Hurricane Gustav, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said on Thursday.

 

Chemical railcar loadings for the week totalled 26,323, compared with 28,885 for the same week in 2007, the association said.

 

Total chemical railcar loadings in the year-to-date period through to 6 September were up 3% to 1,122,220, from 1,089,998 year on year.

  

Railcar loadings for all 19 commodities tracked by the AAR for the week were down 3.5% to 306,340, from 317,469 in the same week of 2007, the association said.

 

Overall railcar loadings for the 19 commodity categories listed by the AAR were 11.7m in the year to date, up 0.2% when compared with the same period of 2007.

 

Rail shipment is a good early indicator of current chemical industry activity. Railroads transport more than 20% of the chemicals produced in the US.

 

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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