According to Statistics Canada, Canadian railways carried 32.1 million tons of freight in May, up 8.7 percent from May 2021 levels and ending the string of eight straight year-over-year monthly decreases in tonnage. Higher shipments of iron ores and some energy products more than offset a continued slide in agricultural and food products.
The overall traffic volume was also the highest level for May since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and it exceeded the five-year average of 31.3 million tons for the month.
The rail traffic growth in May was the result of higher volumes across all types of rail operations: non-intermodal loadings (mainly commodities) and intermodal loadings (mainly containers), as well as freight traffic from connections with American railways.
After posting year-over-year decreases for eight months, non-intermodal rail freight grew 7.2 percent to 24.6 million tons in May. Leading the way was iron ores and concentrates, with loadings rising 83.1 percent (+2,414,000 million tons) from the same month in 2021. Although demand for iron ores has been growing in recent months, this sharp increase in May reflected a temporary shutdown of production at a Quebec-Labrador mine in May 2021, due to a labor dispute.
Loadings of many energy products continued to exhibit strong growth, with the continued recovery of economic activity sparking a rise in fuel consumption and industrial production. For example, loadings of coal―driven by strong demand in Asia―rose for the fourth consecutive month, up 15.5 percent (+476,000 tons) from May 2021. Sharply rising gas prices and constraints on European energy supplies resulting from the war in Ukraine are also increasing demand for coal.
Similar trends were observed in Canadian international merchandise trade, with higher prices helping exports of energy products to reach 29.8 percent of total exports, an all-time high in May.
Domestic rail intermodal shipments (mainly containers) increased for the second consecutive month, edging up by 0.9 percent year over year in May to 3.4 million tons. This was the highest monthly volume on record for the month of May.
May growth reflects continued strong demand for consumer goods. According to May 2022 data on Canadian international merchandise trade, Canada's exports (+20.9 percent) and imports (+11.9 percent) of consumer goods saw year-over-year increases.
In May, freight traffic from the United States continued to grow for the 15th straight month, rising 27.0 percent year over year to 4.1 million tons. This was the highest traffic level ever recorded for the month of May.