Why Did GWR’s European Carloads Rise in December?

Genesee & Wyoming’s (GWR) European carloads rose 20.3% YoY (year-over-year) in December 2016. During the same period of 2015, GWR hauled ~72,000 railcars, as compared to ~86,000 in December 2016. With the acquisition of Freightliner, GWR’s European operations assumed much significance. GWR’s other than coal carloads also rose a remarkable 26.1% in December 2016 on a YoY basis.

The rise in European carloads in December was primarily due to metal and stone products and agricultural product carloads. However, coal and coke carloads fell 33% in December 2016.

For Genesee & Wyoming, the term “carload” represents physical railcars and the estimated railcar equivalents of commodities, for which the company is paid. Genesee & Wyoming is often compared with Class I railroads since its operations span 75% of the US, parts of Canada, Australia, and some parts of Europe. Other US-based Class I rail carriers include Norfolk Southern (NSC), CSX Corporation (CSX), Kansas City Southern (KSU), and Union Pacific (UNP).

In this series, we’ve examined the rail traffic data of major US railroads for the first week of 2017, or the week ending January 7, 2017.

Remember, the transportation and logistics sector makes up part of the industrial sector, and the ProShares Ultra S&P 500 ETF (SSO) invests ~7.6% in the industrial sector. For more information, you can compare this week’s rail data with the previous week in Market Realist’s series US Freight Rail Traffic Closed 52nd Week on a Positive Note.

For ongoing updates on major US railroad stocks, keep checking in with Market Realist’s Railroads page.