Canadian Rail Traffic Eased In April
OTTAWA - Jun 20/23 - SNS -- Cargo carried by Canadian railways eased -0.3% from April 2022 to 31.5 million metric tons (MT), according to Statistics Canada.
April's small year-over-year decrease in total freight carried was entirely attributable to lower volumes of intermodal loadings (mainly containers) and freight traffic from connections with American railways.
In April, non-intermodal freight loadings increased for the 12th consecutive month, rising 5.1% year over year to 25.2 million MT, led by large increases in some agricultural and food products, notably grains.
These increases reflected a rebound in Canadian grain production due to good growing conditions during 2022. For example, carloadings of wheat rose year over year for the eighth month in a row, up 76.9% or 1.088 million MT compared with April 2022.
Similarly, loadings of other cereal grains grew 99.0% (+339,000 MT) in April 2023 compared with April 2022, while loadings of canola grew 67.8% (+261,000 MT).
Other notable year-over-year increases in April 2023 were reported for loadings of animal or vegetable fats, oils and flours (+25.8%) and of animal feed and products (+23.8%).
In April, loadings of fuel oils and crude petroleum declined year over year for the 11th straight month, falling 22.9% (-239,000 MT), while loadings of other refined petroleum and coal products were down 24.1% (-162,000 MT).
Loadings of iron and steel, primary or semi-finished, also declined (-18.4%; -86,000 MT) following two months of increases.
Finally, loadings of plastic and rubber fell 14.9%, while loadings of gaseous hydrocarbons, including liquid petroleum gas, were down 8.8% year over year in April.
In April, intermodal shipmentsâmainly containersâoriginating in Canada declined for the fifth consecutive month, down 16.5% year over year to 2.8 million MT. Freight loadings from connections with American railways fell year over year for the eighth month in a row, down 17.9% to 3.5 million MT in April.
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