In February 2003, freight loaded by railways in Canada (excluding
intermodal traffic) totalled 17.4 million metric tonnes, a decrease
of 4.7% compared to February 2002. Canadian carriers reported 226
thousand carloadings, a drop of 4.9% from the same period last year.
• The tonnage for intermodal traffic, represented by "containers-on-flat-cars" (C.O.F.C.)
and "trailers-on-flat-cars" (T.O.F.C.) increased by 5.3%
compared to the same period in 2002. A total of 1.9 million metric
tonnes was carried in February 2003.
• The top five commodities in terms of tonnage carried for
February were: coal (2.7 million metric tonnes), iron ores and concentrates
(2.2 million metric tonnes), potash (1.2 million metric tonnes),
lumber (0.9 million metric tonnes) and wood pulp (0.85 million metric
tonnes). These top five commodities accounted for 45% of the total
tonnage loaded on railways in Canada in February 2003.
• In terms of the number of railcars loaded, the top five
commodities were: coal (27 thousand cars), iron ores and concentrates
(25 thousand cars), potash (12 thousand cars), lumber (12 thousand
cars), and wood pulp (11 thousand cars). These commodities accounted
for 38% of all railway cars loaded in February.
• Wheat, which plays an important part in the rail industry
in Canada, accounted for 7,900 cars and 0.7 millions metric tons.
Wheat showed a 44% drop in tonnage from February of last year.
• The cumulative freight loaded (excluding intermodal traffic)
for the first two months of 2003 reached 84.7 million tonnes.
