TRAFFIC

摘要

AAR: Chemicals will help drive rail traffic growth Chemical shipments by rail were a "source of optimism" for the rail industry in 2019, according to Luisa Fernandez-Willey, senior economist at the Association of American Railroads. Chemicals comprised the second-largest share of U.S. rail revenue last year — behind intermodal and ahead of coal. Chemical-sector growth — which is expected to drive increases in international trade as well as in dependent U.S. industries — will help bolster future rail carload and export intermodal traffic. "The American Chemistry Council estimates that an additional 300,000 annual rail shipments will be required to meet increased production by 2023," Fernandez-Willey wrote in a Jan. 13 report on traffic trends.