(The following appeared at DailyMarkets.com on July 13, 2010.)
GREENWICH, Conn. — Railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWR) Wednesday said that traffic for June rose 15.4% from the same month last year, and traffic for the second quarter grew 16.8%.
The Greenwich, Connecticut-based company’s traffic for the month of June increased to 73,347 carloads from 63,541 carloads in the comparable month of last year.
By commodity group, Coal, Coke & Ores traffic decreased to 14,857 carloads from 15,573 carloads in the corresponding month of last year.
Farm & food products traffic grew to 9,525 carloads, an increase of 3,073 carloads from last year, primarily due to increased grain shipments in Australia Region. Metals traffic grew to 8,262 carloads, up 3,200 carloads from the prior year, due to higher steel shipments in New York/Ohio/Pennsylvania and Southern Regions.
Traffic in other commodity group improved to 6,824 carloads, an increase of 1,787 carloads from the same month of last year, driven by increased overhead coal shipments in New York/ Ohio/ Pennsylvania Region.
Metals traffic for the month rose 3,200 carloads primarily due to increased steel shipments in New York/Ohio/Pennsylvania and Southern Regions. Farm & food products traffic grew 3,073 carloads primarily due to increased grain shipments in Australia Region.
The company noted that all other traffic, including Minerals & Stone, Pulp & Paper, Lumber & Forest Products, Chemicals-Plastics, Petroleum Products and Autos & Auto Parts increased by a net 1,746 carloads.
For the second quarter, the company’s traffic rose 16.8% to 217,029 carloads from 185,781 carloads in the second quarter of last year. The company said that the increase was principally due to increases of 10,220 carloads of metals traffic, 7,657 carloads of other traffic, and 7,314 carloads of farm & food products traffic. All other traffic increased by a net 6,057 carloads.
Genesee & Wyoming said that it now operates Huron Central Railway under a temporary service contract through August 14, 2010. On June 15, 2009 the company announced its intention to discontinue operations of its Huron Central Railway (HCRY) in the fourth quarter of last year.
The company owns and operates short line and regional freight railroads in the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. Operations currently include 62 railroads organized in nine regions, with approximately 6,000 miles of owned and leased track and approximately 3,400 additional miles under track access arrangements.
GWR closed Tuesday’s regular trading at $38.51 per share on the NYSE.