According to Statistics Canada, the Canadian rail network carried 31.1 million tons of freight in September, down 6.0 percent compared with September 2018. This marked the first decrease for the month of September since 2016.
The non-intermodal operations accounted for all of the drop in the volume of cargo carried, declining 8.5 percent year over year to 24.6 million tons, driven by a sharp decline in shipments of iron ores and concentrates (-24.7 percent or -1,235,000 tons). This decrease came on the heels of a temporary shutdown of iron production at a Quebec-Labrador mine site in mid-September.
Over the same period, reduced loadings were also reported in colza seeds (canola) (-41.2 percent or -442,000 tons), wheat (-17.9 percent or -382,000 tons) and potash (-19.9 percent or -380,000 tons). Grain shipments by rail continued to decline, following an earlier drop that coincided with a terminal maintenance shutdown at the Port of Prince Rupert in early August and with the slow pace of harvest due to wet weather conditions.
Partly offsetting these declines were increased loadings of fresh, chilled or dried vegetables (+66.0 percent or +300,000 tons), coal (+9.6 percent or +278,000 tons), gaseous hydrocarbons, including liquid petroleum gas (+24.6 percent or +139,000 tons) and fuel oils and crude petroleum (+5.2 percent or +91,000 tons).
Despite the overall drop in freight volumes, intermodal traffic in Canada remained steady, rising 1.7 percent from the same period last year to 3.0 million tons in September. Likewise, freight traffic coming from US rail connections increased 8.0 percent to 3.5 million tons.