Rail Movement Down Though Ag Traffic Up
OTTAWA - Oct 1/20 - SNS -- For the fifth month in a row, Canadian railways handled less cargo the same month the previous year, reports Statistics Canada.
During July, Canadian railways carried 29.7 million metric tons (MT) of freight, down 11.8% from last year because of low demand for raw minerals and hydrocarbon freight.
By contrast, loadings of agriculture and food products were up, and this continued into July, with larger year-over-year increases in carloadings of wheat (+34.6% or +626,000 MT), canola (+82.3% or +547,000 MT) and other cereal grains (+69.8% or +146,000 MT).
Lower farm stocks for canola and wheat as of July 31, as shown in the Stocks of grain and oilseeds table, attest to the increase in grain movement. Furthermore, potash loadings also increased year over year in July (+9.9% or +178,000 MT).
The lingering effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic contributed to the dampening demand for energy products.
Loadings of fuel oils and crude petroleum saw the largest decline in July, dropping 67.1% (-1.4 million MT) compared with the same month in 2019, despite stronger crude oil exports in July. Similarly, coal loadings dipped 23.0% (-764,000 MT) year over year in July. Fuel oils, crude petroleum and coal products accounted for over half (53.7%) of the total year-over-year drop in tonnage.
As border closures and travel restrictions remained in effect in many jurisdictions, gasoline and aviation turbine fuel loadings saw a decline of 55.4% (-177,000 MT) year over year in July. This decrease reflected weaker demand for these fuels during the summer driving and air travel season.
According to Canadian international merchandise trade data for July 2020, there was a second consecutive month of growth in exports and imports, led mostly by motor vehicles and parts. Although automobile and mini-van carloadings fell 29.7% (-42,000 MT) in July, motor vehicle parts and accessories saw a year-over-year increase (+12.8% or +2,000 MT). Other transportation equipment also rose (+39.3% or +6,000 MT), with assembly plants ramping up production as the economy began to reopen.
According to data in the Weekly performance indicators of grain transportation, the average number of cars loaded and billed in August was 59,512, up from 48,596 in August 2019. Similarly, the Weekly rail system performance by type of rail car table reveals that the monthly average of the number of intermodal cars on line for August 2020 was similar to the average for August 2019, pointing to a bigger recovery in the volume of rail traffic.
However, expectations of higher freight volumes in August 2020 may be dampened by the labor dispute at the Port of Montreal, which has connections to major rail networks on the East Coast. Moreover, low demand may persist for exports of certain key commodities moved by rail.
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