Canadian Railway Volume Up

OTTAWA - Dec 20/06 - SNS -- Canadian railways hauled 3% more freight in October than the previous month at 24.7 million metric tons (MT), according to Statistics Canada.

Non-intermodal loadings amounted to 22.2 million MT, up 2.8% from September. Intermodal loadings, that is, containers and trailers hauled on flat cars, increased 4.9% to 2.5 million MT.

Freight coming from the United States, either destined for or passing through Canada, rose 6.9% to a record high 2.6 million MT. It was the fourth consecutive monthly increase in freight from the United States.

On a commodity basis, crop-related freight such as wheat and cereal grains rose sharply in October, matching levels previously reported through 1999 to 2001. Nearly 27,000 rail cars were needed to load these grains.

Loadings in the metallic mineral sector were also on the rise in October. Copper, nickel, lead and zinc all showed increases, while iron ore loadings slipped marginally.

The recent restructuring of the wood and paper industry across North America appears to have had an impact on the Canadian rail industry. Loadings of products related to that industry continue to show an overall decline.

In March this year, loadings of log and other woods in the rough required over 4,800 cars. In October, these loadings required less than half that total, only about 2,300 cars.

Between March and October, loadings of lumber declined 27.2%, wood chips 14.9%, other wood products 20.5%, wood pulp 9.3%, and newsprint 16.6%. The only related commodity to increase was paper and paper board, shipments of which were up 9.9% from March.

Loadings of automobiles and minivans have declined for two consecutive months. In October, only 7,644 rail cars were filled with automobiles and minivans, the lowest level for any October since 1999. This was a drop of 1,323 rail cars from October last year.

On a year-over-year basis, non-intermodal tonnage was 1.7% lower than in October 2005. Intermodal loadings held steady, while traffic received from the United States rose 11.6%.