Weekly North American pulp and paper rail freight up 5.3%; lumber 11.3% higher

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

SAN FRANCISCO, June 10, 2011 (RISI) - Pulp and paper rail freight in North America for the latest week ending June 4 at 9,855 carloads was up 5.3% from a year earlier, the Assn of American Railroads reported. Volume through 22 weeks of 2011 at 211,817 carloads was 7.7% higher than in 2010.

Weekly US pulp and paper freight was up 5.9%, Canada was up 3.5% and Mexico surged 187%, AAR showed. Year-to-date volume was 8.2% higher in the US, 6.6% higher in Canada and 48.7% higher in Mexico.

North American wood products and lumber freight for the week at 5,121 carloads was up 11.3% from a year ago and through 22 weeks at 114,384 carloads was 5.9% higher.

Total primary forest products volume was down 6.8% for the week and for the year-to-date.

AAR showed total North American carload traffic was 1.6% higher in the week and 2.9% higher year-to-date. Fifteen of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases from the comparable week in 2010.