MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical railcar traffic in North America continued to strengthen during the week ended 21 November, reported Chemweek.
Weekly volume totaled 44,843 carloads, up 5.8% year-over-year (YOY) and up 0.6% sequentially, according to data released on 25 November by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). On a four-week basis, volume was up 2.4% from 2019 and down 0.8% from 2018 (chart). By contrast, volume during the four weeks ending 14 November was up just 1.3% from 2019 and down 4.3% from 2018.
The year-to-date deficit declined to 3.5% versus 2019 and 5.1% versus 2018, compared to 3.7% and 5.4%, respectively, the previous week.
Chemical railcar traffic in the US contributed 32,721 carloads to the total, up 2.9% YOY and up 2.5% from the previous week. For the year to date, US chemical railcar traffic was down 4.3%.
Canadian chemical rail traffic totaled 11,172 carloads, up 15.2% YOY and down 3.4% from the previous week. For the year to date, Canadian chemical railcar traffic was down 1.4%.
Chemical railcar traffic in Mexico totaled 950 carloads, a YOY increase of 8.3% and a sequential decrease of 11.5%. For the year to date, Mexican chemical railcar traffic was down 3.2%.
As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of chemical products rose in September 2020 by 6.7% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased by 6.1% year on year in the first nine months of 2020, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-September output. Last month's production of primary polymers decreased to 852,000 tonnes from 888,000 tonnes in August due to shutdowns in Tomsk, Ufa and Kazan. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 7,480,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 16.4% year on year.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
MRC