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Last month, crosstie production dipped 5 percent to 1.6 million units vs January output of 1.7 million units, according to the Railway Tie Association’s (RTA) monthly tie market report. Overall, production "held strong," the report states.

Tie purchases softened in February, dropping 13 percent on a month-over-month basis to 1.5 million units. Tie inventories inched up 0.8 percent (or a total of 131,000 units) from January’s level to 16.3 million units, and the inventory-to-sales ratio dipped to 0.79 vs. 0.80 in January and 1.02 in February 2010, the report states.

Meanwhile, data combined from January and February shows production is up 64 percent to 3.3 million units and purchases are up 45 percent to 3.2 million units compared with the same 2010 period.

Per 12-month rolling data, both production and purchases have exhibited strength the past several months, RTA officials said in the report. Purchases reached more than 20.7 million units after totaling less than 18 million units in May 2010, while production grew to about 18.5 million units from less than 16 million units in August 2010.