Breaking News

The Association of American Railroads, AAR, reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 21. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 467,485 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.1% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending January 21 were 230,545 carloads, up 3.3% compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 236,940 containers and trailers, down 6.7% compared to 2022. Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included nonmetallic minerals, up 5,895 carloads, to 31,264; coal, up 2,454 carloads, to 68,675; and motor vehicles and parts, up 2,321 carloads, to 13,166. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2022 included chemicals, down 2,891 carloads, to 31,038; grain, down 1,262 carloads, to 22,015; and forest products, down 799 carloads, to 9,065. For the first three weeks of 2023, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 687,678 carloads, up 3% from the same point last year; and 682,296 intermodal units, down 8.4% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first three weeks of 2023 was 1,369,974 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 3% compared to last year. North American rail volume for the week ending January 2, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 336,113 carloads, up 6.8% compared with the same week last year, and 309,502 intermodal units, down 6.7% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 645,615 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.1%. North American rail volume for the first three weeks of 2023 was 1,893,180 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.5% compared with 2022. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), Trinity Industries (TRN), Greenbrier (GBX), FreightCar America (RAIL) and Wabtec (WAB). Reference Link

CN's Board of Directors also approved a first-quarter 2023 dividend on the Company's common shares outstanding. A quarterly dividend of seventy-nine cents per common share will be paid on March 31 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 10. The company announced that its Board of Directors has approved the repurchase of its shares under a new normal course issuer bid , as well as an 8% increase in the 2023 dividend on the Company's common shares outstanding. The Bid, in the range of C$4 billion, permits CN to purchase, for cancellation, over a 12-month period up to 32 million common shares, representing 4.8% of the 671,253,977 common shares issued and outstanding of the Company on January 18, 2023. "We are pleased to uphold our track record of consistent dividend growth. Our share repurchase program reflects our prudent approach in returning a significant amount of capital to shareholders despite a softening economy. This is a testament to our confidence in the strong cash flow generation capacity of CN throughout business cycles." Ghislain Houle, Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, CN The Bid will be conducted between February 1, 2023 and January 31, 2024 through a combination of discretionary transactions and automatic repurchase plans at market prices prevailing at the time of purchase, through the facilities of the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, or alternative trading systems in Canada and in the United States, if eligible, and will conform to their regulations.