RTA: Crosstie production down, purchases up in November

In November, crosstie production fell 4.5 percent to 2 million units from October levels, but purchases jumped 22 percent to 1.8 million units, the Railway Tie Association (RTA) announced last week.

Compared with year-ago levels, production as of mid-November declined 2 percent while purchases increased 19.7 percent, according to the RTA's November market report.

For the first 11 months of 2016, crosstie production rose 2.4 percent to 25.2 million units compared with the same period in 2015. Purchases inched up 0.5 percent to 22.8 million units on a year-over-year basis.

Purchases returned to a moderate upward trend at a 0.3 percent annual rate in November. Production had been in an uptrend for many months but recently is trending lower, the report stated.

Production remains higher — by 3.7 percent — from the year-ago level, however.