According to Statistics Canada, the Canadian rail network carried 33.3 million tons of freight in July, up 1.0 percent compared with July 2018. This was the third consecutive increase for the month of July.
Intermodal freight loadings contributed to this increase, rising 3.6 percent year over year to 3.1 million tons in July. Freight loadings from US rail connections were up 7.5 percent to 3.8 million tons.
These two types of loadings were the only ones to contribute to the overall increase in tonnage transported in July, as the non-intermodal network—the busiest in this industry—edged down 0.2 percent (-56,500 tons) to 26.4 million tons compared with July 2018.
The main freight that contributed to this decline were iron ores and concentrates (-4.9 percent or -276,000 tons), other cereal grains (-54.4 percent or -249,000 tons), potash (-9.7 percent or -189,000 tons) and lumber (-16.7 percent or -163 000 tons). These declines were offset by increased loadings of coal (+21.0 percent or +570,000 tons), fuel oils and crude petroleum (+26.5 percent or +423,000 tons) and other oil seeds and nuts and other agricultural products (+140.4 percent or +216,000 tons).