According to Statistics Canada, Canadian railways transported 26.5 million tons of freight in January, down 19.1 percent from January 2021. This marked the fifth straight month of year-over-year declines and the steepest percentage drop in more than a decade.
While rail freight transport typically slows down during the winter months, the volume of cargo carried in January 2022 was at its lowest level since 2014.
January's drop was attributable to widespread volume declines in freight loadings in both domestic non-intermodal (mainly commodities) and intermodal (mainly containers) operations.
The tonnage of non-intermodal freight loadings posted a sharp year-over-year decline, dropping 22.6 percent to 20.2 million tons in January, marking a fifth consecutive month of year-over-year decreases. While the drop reflects broad-based declines for many commodities, it was led by ongoing large decreases in some agricultural and food products—notably grain.
In terms of railway transportation, other significant decreases were reported for iron ores and concentrates, with loadings falling 17.9 percent (-894,000 tons) compared with January 2021. Loadings of coal dipped 18.0 percent (-559,000 tons) year over year in January, a third consecutive month of decline.
Several commodities registered increases, partly offsetting the sharp downturns in loadings noted above. With the increasing demand for energy, loadings of refined petroleum and coal products (for example, butane and propane) grew 42.4 percent (+154,000 tons) in January from the same month in 2021, marking the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year increases in tonnage.
Loadings of primary or semi-finished iron and steel products posted a year-over-year increase for the 12th consecutive month, rising 9.1 percent (+36,000 tons) compared with January 2021. Loadings of primary or semi-finished other non-ferrous metal were up 37.3 percent (+17,000 tons), their fourth straight month of year-over-year increases. According to data from the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing, sales in the primary metal manufacturing industry continued to rise in January, up 24.0 percent year over year.
In January, domestic intermodal shipments—mainly containers—continued their downward trend, dipping 12.8 percent year over year to 2.7 million tons. This was the fifth consecutive month of declines.
Freight traffic from US rail connections grew year over year for the 11th consecutive month in January, rising 1.5 percent to 3.5 million tons. This was the second-highest volume ever recorded for a month of January.