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After a flurry of activity in March, crosstie purchases and production slowed a bit in April, according to the Railway Tie Association’s (RTA) monthly crosstie market report. Production tumbled 15 percent to 1.65 million units and purchases dipped 3 percent to 1.87 million units compared with March. In addition, inventories declined 1.3 percent to 16.1 million units.

During 2011’s first four months, production surged 52 percent to about 7 million units compared with the same 2010 period, an increase of 4.6 million units, according to the RTA. Purchases climbed 11 percent to about 7 million units, up from 6.3 million ties in April 2010.

Meanwhile, 12-month rolling data shows purchases and production were growing at a 13 percent and 10 percent annual rate, respectively, according to the RTA. However, inventories were down about 5 percent year over year. As of April 30, the inventory-to-sales ratio remained at 0.79 — where it stood in both February and March — compared with 0.94 at the end of April 2010.