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In April, crosstie purchases climbed 13 percent to 2.4 million units while production declined 4 percent to 2.3 million units compared with March levels, according to the Railway Tie Association's (RTA) monthly tie market report.

During 2009's first four months, tie production soared 42 percent to 9 million units and purchases increased 12 percent to 8.2 million units compared with totals from the same 2008 period.

Meanwhile, 12-month rolling data shows tie production rose 13 percent to 22.9 million units while purchases increased 4.4 percent to 21.8 million units, RTA said. Inventories swelled by 7 percent to 16.9 million units.

"The inventory-to-sales ratio had increased for the prior nine months until this month's drop [to 0.78]," said RTA officials in the report, adding that the ratio remains in line with the five-year average.