American Resources Corporation Commences Railcar and Metal Recycling Service Partnership

American Resources Corporation, a supplier of raw materials to the rapidly growing global infrastructure marketplace, today announced that, in conjunction with a third-party metal aggregating and processing company, it has begun receiving and processing retired coal railcars to be recycled for their metal content and reused for alternative, modern-day purposes.

SABIC Leak Resembles Ohio Incident In Which 'Catastrophic Explosion' Was Avoided

According to the state Department of Conservation's ongoing investigation, the railcar arrived at SABIC on May 26. The railcar containing approximately 180,000 gallons of liquid styrene monomer had remained at the plastics plant since its arrival. Styrene monomer is transported by tanker car where temperatures are monitored to prevent spontaneous polymerization.

Midwest & Bluegrass Rail Builds Short Line Business

Midwest & Bluegrass Rail, LLC (MBRAIL) has acquired Camp Chase Railway (Ohio), Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad (Indiana), Vermilion Valley Railroad (Illinois), and Youngstown & Southeastern Railroad (Ohio and Pennsylvania) from Indiana Boxcar Corp. They are the first small roads for MBRAIL, which formed in 2019 with the mission of "creating a full-service rail company."

CPA Praises FTA Call for American-Made Railcars

The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today praised a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) call for American-made railcars in purchases by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). In a letter to WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld, FTA Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams urged the agency to follow Buy America policies in its planned purchase of 250 new railcars.

Grain Shipments Via St. Lawrence Seaway Climb

Canadian grain shipments through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway trade corridor are up 20% in response to continuing world demand for wheat and canola, the latest figures show. Year-to-date shipments of grain (from April 1 to August 31) totaled 5.2 million tonnes, as ships transported Prairie wheat and canola and Ontario wheat and soybeans for both domestic use and for export to markets around the world.

Lower Oil Production Hits Pipeline Operators Hard

Just two years ago, U.S. pipeline operators were rushing to build pipelines in Texas to move surging Permian oil and gas production to the refining and export centers on the Gulf Coast. This year's crash in oil demand and prices led to a U.S. shale production decline as many operators in all major shale plays curtailed output to sit out the sub $40 oil prices at which they don't make money.

China Imports Soar, Up Almost 90% Year-Over-Year

With bookings of U.S. imports from China currently up 89% year-over-year (y/y), ocean freight out of China is surging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Steve Ferreira, CEO of Ocean Audit Inc., and Daniel Gardner, president of Trade Facilitators, recently discussed what's causing the surge of goods from China and how long it will last.

PowerChina Eyes Rail Project to Transport Oil and Gas From Argentina's Vaca Muerta

A Chinese energy company is in talks to build a billion-dollar railway in Argentina that would move crude oil and natural gas from the massive Vaca Muerta shale region to the port city of Bahia Blanca, its president for Argentina said on Thursday. PowerChina is in talks with Argentina's state-owned rail entity ADIF for the line, which would act as a crucial link between the isolated shale region and the petrochemical and refinery hub, Tu Shuiping, president of PowerChina in Argentina, said in an interview.

Eskom-Agro Acquires New Hopper Cars

United Wagon Company will deliver Eskom-Agro commercial enterprise a batch of model 19-9549 hopper cars for grain transport by the end of September 2020. The supply of the new freight cars will be made under an agreement on the purchase of new generation rolling stock, with the deal being financed by RSHB Leasing, part of Russian Agricultural Bank.

TSI Certification For the European Sgmmns Cars

The four-axle Sgmmns flat cars designed by United Wagon Company have received the certificates proving compliance with TSI standards for car production, following the successful certification testing in Europe. This allows UWC to fulfill a previously signed contract on the supply of 200 rolling stock units.