(The following story by John D. Boyd appeared on The Journal of Commerce website on September 18, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Labor Day-shortened loading week that took overall short line traffic to its lowest level since the July 4 holiday, short lines surveyed by RMI still reported gains in some cargoes that show demand growing in the metals manufacturing sector.
RMI’s RailConnect index of 341 reporting carriers in North America showed increases in the week ending Sept. 12 for carloads of metals and products, and in metallic ores to feed smelters.
Those short lines picked up 87,939 bulk carloads plus intermodal units of trailers and containers, down from 91,951 a week earlier as the Sept. 7 Monday holiday cut into normal shipment activity.
But in the latest week they originated 5,710 carloads of metals and products, up from 5,334 in the Sept. 4 week. The latest metallic ore total was 2,428 loadings, up from 2,029.
Rail-stocks analysts worry that cargoes benefiting from the government’s recent $3 billion “cash for clunkers” stimulus program of automobile trade-in vouchers could soon weaken, after that month-long summer program ended in late August.
But to the extent that metals demand is boosted by the clunker program — as auto-makers rev up to replenish car lot inventories after a rush of summer sales — the rail numbers show metal factories are still ordering more ore for raw material and churning out more railcars full of products for their own customers.
Other short line cargoes also supported ideas that the recent strength in rail traffic continued despite the holiday interruption.
Chemical tank car loads make up the single largest source of short line traffic, and they fell just mildly in the Labor Day week to 15,119 loadings from 15,775 in the full week of Sept. 4.
The second-largest cargo for small carriers is grain, which at 12,948 hopper carloads was down about 700 cars from a week earlier. Coal at 12,916 loads was up from 11,108 in the preceding week.