UpdateCanada weekly chemical railcar traffic rises 14.1%

03 June 2010 20:50  [Source: ICIS news]

(updates with Canadian, Mexican and overall North American shipment data)

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Chemical shipments on Canadian railroads rose 14.1% last week from the same time in 2009, marking their 21st increase in a row this year, an industry association said on Thursday.

Canadian chemical railcar loadings for the week ended on 29 May were 13,153, up from 11,530 in the same week last year, according to data released by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

The increase for the week came after a 21.1% year-over-year increase in Canadian chemical carloads in the previous week ended on 22 May.

The weekly chemical railcar loadings data were seen as an important measure of chemical industry activity and demand. In Canada, chemical railcar traffic accounted for about 20% of overall railcar shipments, compared with around 10% in the US.

For the year-to-date period to 29 May, Canadian chemical railcar shipments were up 27.3% to 306,856 from 241,049 in the same period in 2009.

Meanwhile, Mexican chemical railcar traffic fell 6.5% last week to 1,187 from 1,270 in the same week a year earlier.

For the year-to-date period, Mexican shipments were up 6.5% to 24,120 from 22,638 in the same period last year.

The AAR reported earlier on Thursday that US chemical railcar traffic rose 16.0% to 29,786 carloads, from 25,678 in the same period a year ago.

Year-to-date to 29 May, US chemical railcar loadings were up 13.2% to 608,800 from 538,054 in the year-earlier period.

Total chemical railcar shipments for all of North America – US, Canada and Mexico - rose 14.7% for the week ended on 29 May to 44,126, from 38,478 in the same week in 2009.

For the year-to-date period to 29 May, overall North American chemical railcar traffic was up 17.2% to 939,776 from 801,732 in the year-earlier period.

Overall, the AAR tracks 19 carload commodity categories.

From the same week last year, total US weekly railcar traffic for the 19 carload commodity categories rose 21.9% to 286,665 from 235,115 and was up 7.2% to 5,923,333 year to date to 29 May. 

For all of North America, total railcar traffic rose 23.4% to 372,754 from 302,038 for the week and was up 10.2% to 7,729,358 year to date to 29 May.

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