Railway carloadings, June 2013

Released: 2013-08-28

Freight carried by Canadian railways fell 3.4% compared with June 2012 to 26.2 million tonnes in June. The drop marks the first decline in freight loadings for the month of June since 2009.

Within Canada, combined loadings of non-intermodal freight (that is, cargo moved via box cars or loaded in bulk) and intermodal freight (that is, cargo moved via containers and trailers on flat cars) decreased 4.2% to 22.7 million tonnes.

Non-intermodal freight loadings fell 4.0% to 20.3 million tonnes, as freight activity was significantly pulled down by a number of commodity groupings. These included potash (down 406 000 tonnes), coal (down 388 000 tonnes), canola (down 234 000 tonnes), and wheat (down 165 000 tonnes). In total, 32 of the 64 commodity groups carried by Canadian railways fell during the month.

The drop in loadings occurred despite a strong push from a number of commodities that rose during the month. These included fuel oils and crude petroleum (up 393 000 tonnes); iron ores and concentrates (up 308 000 tonnes); and sand, gravel and crushed stone (up 105 000 tonnes).

Intermodal loadings decreased 5.4% to 2.5 million tonnes. The decline was the result of a drop in containerized cargo shipments, which offset robust growth from trailers loaded onto flat cars.

From a geographic perspective, both the Western and Eastern railway divisions in Canada saw a drop in loadings in June. The Western Division, which accounted for 58.4% of the domestic freight loadings, fell 6.6% from the same month in 2012 to 13.3 million tonnes. The Eastern Division accounted for the remainder of the loadings and declined 0.5% to 9.5 million tonnes. For statistical purposes, cargo loadings from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to the Pacific Coast are classified to the Western Division while loadings from Armstrong, Ontario, to the Atlantic Coast are classified to the Eastern Division.

Rail traffic received from the United States rose 1.9% to 3.5 million tonnes. The gain in tonnage occurred mainly on the strength of intermodal freight, particularly containerized cargo shipments.

The June 2013 issue of Monthly Railway Carloadings, Vol. 90, no. 6 (Catalogue number52-001-X), is now available from the Browse by key resource module of our website under Publications.

Contact information

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