RTA report: May crosstie purchases, production fall from April levels

In May, crosstie purchases fell 11.4 percent to 2 million units and production declined 3.6 percent to 2 million units compared with April statistics, according to the Railway Tie Association (RTA).

But on a year-over-year basis, purchases jumped 56.9 percent and production soared 30.3 percent. It's worth noting, however, that May 2014 purchases were unusually low, about 27 percent below the five-year average for May, RTA officials said in a report.

Through 2015's first five months, production at 9.9 million units and purchases at a likewise 9.9 million units were up 27.6 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively, from year-ago levels.

Meanwhile, RTA's 12-month rolling data showed purchases (at 23.5 million units) transitioned from a nine-month decline to an upswing while production (at 22.7 million units) remained down slightly at a 0.8 percent annual rate.

"After a long decline since March 2012, production [then] stabilized in 2014 and now is on the rise in 2015 by 12.6 percent from the year-ago level," RTA officials said.