Railway Track & Structures - October 2007 - (Page 28)

RTS1007 p25-36-Crossties 9/26/07 2:28 PM Page 28 Stacks of treated ties from Thompson Industries. installation windows at certain plants,” said Clarke. Clarke notes that a high level of traffic has fueled demand for ties from the Class 1s. “While Class 1 railroads are earning above their cost of capital, they are extremely mindful of tying up capital in oversized inventories. The demand for ties remains at very favorable levels, but it is tempered to a much higher degree than the ‘Wild West’ attitude taken 12 to 18 months ago,” said Clarke. “Specific and noticeably stricter attention has been given to the flow of ties (quotas) over the past nine months versus this time last year. Where one area may increase, flow is redirected to areas that have somewhat lower supply. Backlogs in flow are virtually nonexistent versus a year ago. To this end, everyone, from the green tie supplier to the treating plants to the railroads, can monitor and manage the tie requirements to a far greater degree in a timelier manner.” Clarke also pointed to the slumping hardwood lumber market and its effect on sawmills as a major issue facing the industry. Additionally, cyclical changes for competing products, from pulp wood demand to crane mat production, have also had sizeable impacts on the producing sawmills. “We expect to see further consolidation and attrition in the sawmill production industry. Ultimately this will have further impacts on the supply chain. To assist in alleviating this to some degree, Gross & Janes has historically and continues to invest in proven, financially capable, operating sawmills. Providing some stabilization to the supply chain ultimately leads to a more productive and efficient flow of products to the end customer,” said Clarke. Koppers Inc. continues to produce treated-wood products for the railroad industry, including crossties, switch ties, bridge ties, line poles and grade crossings. Koppers also owns a 50 percent interest in KSA, a supplier of prestressed concrete products to the railroad industry, including crossties, switch ties and grade crossings. Thomas Niederberger, vice president marketing and sales at Koppers, points out that wood crosstie demand continues to remain very strong as the Class 1 railroads have increased spending to expand capacity, while the shortlines continue to 28 Railway Track & Structures October 2007 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - October 2007

Railway Track & Structures - October 2007 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Crossties by the Billions Provide Essentials for Full Support Modern Tools Manage Risk M/W Challenges: Better Management of Thermal Forces in CWR TTCI Celebrates 25 Years as Facility, 10 as Part of AAR Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - October 2007

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