US weekly chemical railcar traffic rises 3.8%

17 July 2008 16:18  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--US chemical railcar traffic for the week ended 12 July rose 3.8% from the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said on Thursday.

 

Chemical railcar loadings for the week totalled 31,823, compared with 30,664 for the same week in 2007, the association added.

 

Total chemical railcar loadings in the year-to-date period through to 12 July were 873,928, up 3.2% over 847,173 from the same period in 2007.

 

The AAR did not cite reasons for the increase in weekly chemicals shipments.

 

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

 

Railcar loadings for all 19 commodities tracked by the AAR for the week were 312,049, up 3.3% from 310,929 in the same week of 2007, the association said.

 

Overall railcar loadings for the 19 commodity categories listed by the AAR reached 9.06m year to date, up 0.4% when compared with the same period of 2007.

 

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Author: Stefan Baumgarten
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