UpdateCanadian weekly chemical railcar traffic rises 3.9%

28 April 2011 18:14  [Source: ICIS news]

(adds Canadian and Mexican chemical railcar shipment data)

TORONTO (ICIS)--Chemical shipments on Canadian railroads rose by 3.9% in the week ended 23 April compared with the same period in 2010, an industry association said on Thursday.

Canadian chemical railcar loadings totalled 11,214, up from 10,795 in the same week a year earlier, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said.

The previous week ended 16 April saw a year-on-year increase of 1.3%.

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 23 April, Canadian chemical railcar shipments were up by 10.8% to 188,240 carloads.

The AAR said chemical railcar traffic in Mexico rose by 16.8% last week to 1,279, from 1,095 in the same week a year earlier.

In the year to date to 23 April, Mexican chemical railcar shipments were up by 3.3% to 18,702 carloads.

Chemical shipments on US railroads fell 4.4% in the week ended 23 April, compared with the same period in 2010, marking their second decline this year.

There were 29,276 chemical railcar loadings last week, down from 30,638 in the same week of 2010.

The previous week ended 23 April saw a year-on-year increase of 3.2%.

Overall, US weekly railcar shipments for the 19 high-volume freight commodity groups tracked by the AAR fell 2.1% to 292,706.

For all of North America, total weekly railcar traffic fell also by 2.1% to 379,736 railcar shipments.

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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