View the most recent version.

Highlights

The Canadian railway industry continued to flex its muscles in April, as railways reported near record freight loadings for the month.

Canadian railways were also at the forefront of merger and acquisition and negotiation activities on both sides of the border.

Turning in yet another strong performance, railways loaded 24.4 million metric tonnes of freight in April - a 3.8% increase over April 2007 levels. Loadings for the month were close to the record of 24.7 million metric tonnes reported in April 2004.

Non-intermodal loadings of iron ore and concentrates, wheat and lumber were among the most heavily loaded commodities. Together, these commodities helped push non-intermodal loadings up to 21.9 million metric tonnes – a 3.7% rise from April 2007.

April’s loadings of iron ore and concentrates are the highest amount of loadings for the commodity for the month since 2000 and are the result of increased demand for shipments to Asia. The increase in loadings also mark a return to more normal levels for the commodity following a labour dispute the iron ore sector experienced last April.

By contrast, loadings of lumber are at their lowest level for the month since 2000, and are reflective of a continued soft lumber market in the United States.

Intermodal loadings for the industry were also met with success in April, as the 2.5 million metric tonnes loaded is 5.0% higher than in April 2007 and is the highest ever for the month. The rise in loadings is almost entirely attributable to increased containerized cargo shipments.

Rail freight traffic coming from the United States increased on a year-over-basis, with freight traffic increasing 10.1% to 2.9 million metric tonnes. April’s freight traffic represents an all-time high for the month.