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In May, crosstie purchases fell 22 percent to 1,469,000 units compared with April — the first month-over-month decline in 2005, according to a Railway Tie Association (RTA) report. May tie production rose 5 percent to 1.5 million units while suppliers’ tie inventories held steady at 13.9 million units.

During 2005’s first five months, tie purchases increased 10 percent compared with the same 2004 period and 14 percent compared with the same period five years ago. However, production declined 14 percent compared with last year.

During the past 12 months, tie purchases totaling 18.5 million units have outpaced production of 18.2 million units. The inventory-to-sales ratio held steady at 0.76.

“Purchases are growing at a 5 percent clip, but production has fallen off 2.6 percent,” RTA officials said in the report.