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July’s first full week wasn’t a particularly good one for U.S. railroads, with the slowing effects of the July 4 holiday clearly evident in traffic data. During the week ending July 9, they originated 245,574 carloads, down 3.2 percent, and 192,619 containers and trailers, down 0.2 percent compared with volumes from the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
 
Only 13 of 20 carload commodity groups posted gains, led by iron and steel scrap (up 32.5 percent), metallic ores (up 22.9 percent) and “all other” carloads (up 14.6 percent). Waste and nonferrous scrap traffic fell 16.1 percent, coal carloads declined 11.3 percent and grain volume dropped 10.5 percent.

However, the outlook for carloads of grain and other agricultural products for the remainder of 2011 is a tad brighter following revised harvest expectations released this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.’s “Rail Flash” report. The USDA now expects a 4 percent year-over-year increase in core crops — including corn, wheat and soybeans — vs. a prior projection of 3 percent.
 
Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported weekly carloads totaling 71,793, up 3 percent, and 47,026 containers and trailers, down 5.4 percent year over year. Mexican railroads’ carloads jumped 14.6 percent to 13,008 units and intermodal volume skyrocketed 84.1 percent to 8,802 units.
 
Through 2011’s first 27 weeks, 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads originated 10.2 million carloads, up 2.5 percent, and 7.6 million containers and trailers, up 6.9 percent compared with volumes from the same 2010 period.

For more AAR traffic data for the week ending July 9 and through 27 weeks, follow this link.