UpdateCanada weekly chemical railcar traffic rises 24.2%

17 June 2010 19:43  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Chemical shipments on Canadian railroads rose 24.2% last week from the same time in 2009, marking their 23rd increase in a row this year, an industry association said on Thursday.

Canadian chemical railcar loadings for the week ended on 12 June were 13,485, up from 10,859 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 27.8% year-over-year increase in Canadian chemical carloads in the previous week ended on 5 June.

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

For the year-to-date period to 12 June, Canadian chemical railcar shipments were up 27.2% to 334,323 from 262,846 in the same period in 2009.

Meanwhile, Mexican chemical railcar traffic rose 6.6% last week to 1,185 from 1,112 in the same week a year earlier.

For the year-to-date period, Mexican shipments were up 6.4% to 26,429 from 24,843 in the same period last year.

The AAR reported earlier on Thursday that US chemical railcar traffic for the week ended 12 June rose 13.1% to 28,598 from 25,287 in the same period a year ago.

Year-to-date to 12 June, US chemical railcar loadings were up 12.7% to 663,824 from 588,897 in the year-earlier period.

Total chemical railcar shipments for all of North America – US, Canada and Mexico - rose 16.1% for the week ended on 12 June to 43,268 from 37,258 in the same week in 2009.

For the year-to-date period to 12 June, overall North American chemical railcar traffic was up 16.9% to 1,024,576 to 876,586 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 10.5% to 288,973 from 261,557 and was up 7.2% to 6,482,557year to date to 12 June. 

For all of North America, total railcar traffic rose 14.0% to 377,784 from 331,427 for the week and was up 10.2% to 8,463,154 year to date to 12 June.

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