Canadian Rail Traffic Jumped In January
OTTAWA - Mar 31/23 - SNS -- Increased grain movement was the biggest reason the amount of freight handled by Canadian railways reached 31.7 million metric tons (MT) In January, up 18.7% from the same month last year, according to Statistics Canada.
Canadian grain shipments were the largest contributor to the year-over-year increase in January 2023, partly reflecting lower volumes in January 2022 attributable to the drought across the Prairies in the summer of 2021.
The overall freight volume was much higher than normal for this time of year, exceeding the five-year monthly average of 30.4 million MT.
January's growth in total freight carried was entirely driven by domestic non-intermodal loadings (mainly commodities), as intermodal loadings (mainly containers) and freight traffic from connections with American railways both fell.
Non-intermodal freight loadings in Canada continued their nine-month growth trend, rising 26.9% year over year to 25.6 million MT in January. While the growth was widespread among commodities, it was driven by increases in agricultural and food productsâespecially grain.
Grain shipments by rail reflected a rebound in Canadian grain production with more favourable growing conditions across the Prairies in 2022. For example, carloadings of wheat surged by 108.3% (+1 221 000 MT) in January 2023 compared with January 2022, after posting substantial gains in December (+93.4%) and November (+89.8%).
Likewise, loadings of canola grew 91.1% (+398 000 MT) in January 2023 compared with January 2022, while loadings of other cereal grains were up 144.9% (+310 000 MT).
These rail movements mirror the January 2023 increase in Canada's exports of farm, fishing and intermediate food products, as reported in the Canadian international merchandise trade released earlier in March of this year.
Other significant increases were reported for iron ores and concentrates, with loadings rising by 19.4% (+799 000 MT) year over year in January, while loadings of coal increased sharply by 29.5% (+753 000 MT) from January 2022.
Some Commodities Down
Fuel oils and crude petroleum led the declines, with loadings dipping by 10.7% (-112 000 MT) year over year in January, representing their eighth consecutive month of decline. Loadings of lumber followed suit, down 10.7% (-79 000 MT) compared with January 2022, the fourth consecutive month of decline.
In addition, loadings of iron and steel, primary or semi-finished were down 5.2% (-23 000 MT) from January 2022. Finally, loadings of other chemical products and preparations fell 17.9% (-20 000 MT) year over year in January 2023, while loadings of nickel ores and concentrates were down 18.5% (-13 000 MT) from January 2022 levels.
Domestic intermodal shipmentsâmainly containersâdeclined for the second consecutive month in January, edging down 1.1% year over year to 2.8 million MT.
In January, freight traffic from US rail connections declined year over year for the fifth consecutive month, falling by about 414 000 MT to reach 3.3 million MT in January, a decline of 11.1%.
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