Railroads Say Agriculture to Lead Recovery

Representatives of Canadian National Railway, CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Railway say they expect agricultural products to be the first to bounce back after the recession.

Fredrik Eliasson, vice president of financial planning and analysis for CSX, said his company has already seen a slight increase in traffic of phosphates and fertilizer as the spring planting season ramps up.

The three were part of a panel at the Wolfe Research Global Transportation Conference in New York and were asked which commodities would recover first: agriculture, energy or industry.

“Agriculture will go first,” said James Foote, CN’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. “From a global perspective, the demand is there and the supply is there. Price is an issue, but people have to eat first.”

All three companies cited domestic intermodal services as the hardest hit segment of their businesses. Each said they were storing their assets and furloughing employees until the economy revives.

Contact Marcy Behrmann Frank at mfrank@joc.com.