RTA report: Tie purchases rose, production fell in February

Crosstie production in February declined 6.8 percent to 1.9 million units and purchases rose 1.4 percent to 1.9 million units compared with January levels, according to the Railway Tie Association (RTA).

But compared with year-ago levels, production jumped 31.4 percent and purchases soared 26 percent. The tie inventory remained unchanged at 16.1 million units in February versus January's total, and the inventory-to-sales ratio slid from 0.71 in January to 0.69 in February.

Through 2015's first two months, production accelerated 30 percent to 3.9 million units and purchases grew 11.7 percent to 3.7 million units.

On a 12-month rolling total basis through February, production (at 21.4 million units) showed signs of leveling off — after a long decline since January 2012 — and was up 4.2 percent from the year-ago level. Purchases, which had declined in recent months after more than a year of an upswing, were down at a 5.4 percent annual rate to 23.2 million units.