Weekly pulp and paper railroad freight rises 5.8% in US, declines 5% in Canada from 2012

By  James McLaren, Senior Editor, PPI Pulp & Paper Week, RISI

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 18, 2013 (RISI) - North American pulp and paper railroad freight in the most recent week ending Jan. 12, 2013, was up 1.4% from a year earlier to 9,447 carloads, the Association of American Railroads reported. For the first two weeks of this year, volume of 19,259 carloads was 0.5% ahead of 2012.

Weekly pulp and paper traffic in the US rose 5.8%, Canada declined 5% and Mexico was off 2.4%, AAR showed.

Lumber and wood products rail traffic in the week was up 7.9% and for two weeks at 10,312 carloads was 2.1% higher than in 2012.

Primary forest products carloads were lower by 0.2% and 8.8% respectively.

AAR showed total North American rail traffic in the week ending Jan. 12 was down 4.5% and for two weeks of 2013 was 7.2% lower.