Chemical traffic on US railways rises 2.8%

Chemical News: Chemical traffic on US railways rises 2.8%

https://www.chemnet.com Aug 24,2007 ICIS news
TORONTO (ICIS news)--US chemical railcar traffic rose 2.8% in the week ended 18 August, compared with the same period in 2006, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said on Thursday.

The AAR did not cite reasons for the increase in chemicals shipments. However, analysts consider the rail shipment data to be a good early indicator of current chemical industry activity.

Railroads transport more than 20% of chemicals produced in the US.

Chemical railcar loadings for the week rose to 30,435, up from 29,601 in the same week in 2006, the association said.

Cumulatively, US chemical railcar loadings came to 999,045 for the first 33 weeks of 2007, an increase of 2.4% from the same period last year.

Overall railcar loadings for the 19 commodity categories it tracked fell 1.5% in the 33rd week, to 338,364, compared with the same week last year, the AAR said.

Cumulatively, overall carloads were 10.69m, down 3.7%, for the first 33 weeks of 2007, compared with 2006, the AAR said.

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