UpdateCanadian weekly chemical railcar traffic rises by 1.3%

21 April 2011 18:38  [Source: ICIS news]

(adds Canadian and Mexican chemical railcar shipment data)

TORONTO (ICIS)--Chemical shipments on Canadian railroads rose by 1.3% in the week ended 16 April compared with the same period in 2010, an industry association said on Thursday.

Canadian chemical railcar loadings totalled 11,256, up from 11,108 in the same week a year earlier, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said.

The previous week saw a year-on-year increase of 15.2%.

The weekly chemical railcar loadings data are seen as an important real-time measure of chemical industry activity and demand.

Canada’s chemical industry transports two-thirds of its annual shipments on the country’s railway system.

In the year to date to 16 April, Canadian chemical railcar shipments were up by 11.3% to 177,026 carloads.

The AAR said chemical railcar traffic in Mexico rose by 17.8% last week to 1,362 carloads, up from 1,156 in the same week a year earlier.

In the year to date to 16 April, Mexican chemical railcar shipments were up by 2.4% to 17,423 carloads.

Chemical shipments on US railroads rose by 3.2% in the week ended 16 April, compared with the same period in 2010.

There were 30,246 chemical railcar loadings last week, up from 29,311 in the same week of 2010. The previous week ended 9 April saw a year-on-year increase of 1.1%.

Overall, US weekly railcar shipments for the 19 high-volume freight commodity groups tracked by the AAR fell by 0.3% to 295,426.

For all of North America, total weekly railcar traffic rose by 1.1% to 388,271 as increases in Canada and Mexico more than offset the decline in US railcar shipments.

 

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