advertisement

---

October was a trying month in the crosstie market. Purchases didn’t crack the 1 million mark, tumbling 30 percent from September’s level to 919,000 units, according to the Railway Tie Association’s (RTA) monthly report. Tie purchases also tumbled 30 percent compared with October 2008’s count.

In addition, tie production decreased 9 percent from September’s level to 1.5 million units — the sixth decline in a seven-month period. However, inventories rose 3 percent to 18.6 million units, the largest month-over-month increase in 12 months, the RTA said.

Through 2009’s first 10 months, tie production rose 18 percent to 19.7 million units, but purchases fell 3.6 percent to 17.3 million units compared with totals from the same 208 period.

Meanwhile, 12-month rolling data shows “both production and purchases are falling off from recent highs,” RTA officials said in the report. Production grew at a 19 percent rate while purchases declined at a 3 percent rate. The inventory-to-sales ratio stood at 0.92 compared with 0.79 from the past five Octobers.

For more crosstie market data, follow this link to download the RTA’s latest report.