Canadian railways total freight volume unchanged in December

Traffic from domestic freight operations increased while traffic from the U.S. remained low

Statistics Canada reports that Canadian railways carried 32.4 million tonnes of freight in December, the same amount as in December 2019, and the second highest on record for the month of December. Following a strong 6.0% year-over-year growth in November, this signals a recovery to more seasonal levels after seven straight months of year-over-year declines since March.

The Federal Agency reports that traffic from domestic freight operations increased in December. Intermodal or container traffic in Canada was up 6.3% to 3.1 million tonnes compared with December 2019, marking the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year increases.

December non-intermodal freight loadings also grew 0.7% to 26.3 million tonnes. The main contributors to this year-over-year increase were loadings of agricultural and food products, principally wheat, followed by potash, iron ores and concentrates, oil seeds and nuts and other agricultural products.

Moderating this growth were large year-over-year declines in loadings of certain hydrocarbon-based commodities. Compared with December 2019, other significant decreases were also reported in other metallic ores and concentrates along with iron and steel.

Traffic received from the United States in December remained well below December of 2019 levels, falling 10.7% to 3.0 million tonnes, the ninth consecutive month of decline.