Agriculture Bright Spot For Railways

OTTAWA - Aug 26/20 - SNS -- The amount of cargo hauled by railways maintained its year over year declines in June, but movement of agricultural commodities posted gains, according to Statistics Canada.

During the month, Canadian railways carried 29.8 million metric tons (MT) of freight, down 10.4% from June 2019. This followed the 12.9% year-over-year decrease reported in May.

By contrast, gains were reported in loadings of wheat (+24.5%, or +539,000 MT), animal feed and products (+14.9%, or +53,000 MT), fresh, chilled or dried vegetables (+6.7%, or +30,000 MT), and canola (+2.8%, or +26,000 MT).

In June, after declines in May, year-over-year increases were reported in loadings of iron ores and concentrates (+4.0%, or +198,000 MT) and potash (+3.0%, or +58,000 MT).

Fuel oils and crude petroleum loadings accounted for over one-third of the total tonnage decline in June, falling 69.4% (-1.3 million MT) from the same month in 2019. This decrease was likely due to lower demand for crude oil, despite many jurisdictions gradually resuming economic activities. Coal loadings were down 11.9% (-364,000 MT) over the same period.

According to the July 2020 weekly performance indicators of grain transportation by rail, the number of cars loaded and billed for July was 52,079, up from 38,899 in the same month last year. Similarly, the July 2020 weekly rail system performance by type of rail car showed that the average number of intermodal rail cars on line was more or less the same as in July 2019, which indicates a resurgence in traffic volume.

Statistics Canada added, "Overall, as lockdown measures (to control the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus) ease, the volume of freight carried by rail is likely to increase in the coming months as trade recovers. However, weak export demand for some key commodities moved by rail may hamper growth if the impact of the pandemic lingers."