Freight of chemical products

Freight of chemical products are set to expand 1.4% in 2026, growing at a five year CAGR of 0.5%. Historically, freight of chemical products has exhibited volatility. Employment in the chemical industry declined in 2021 from 2020, while productivity in both years has remained level, according to the Chemical Industry Association of Canada, which nevertheless pressured production in the year. With a solid inflationary environment in 2022, freight activity to carry chemicals slumped by 3.3%. While more demand in the period helped boost industries in the year, higher prices and costs affected how much downstream industries could acquire without these increases from encroaching on their gains. For the chemical industry, prices remained enormously elevated in the year, which affected demand in the period as sales of these materials remained lower than in pre-pandemic years, according to data from Statistics Canada. The inflationary environment provided a slight bump in sales from the year before, but not enough to break past pre-pandemic levels as the price hikes reflect production being pressured to produce more to satisfy market activity, which kept freight carrying levels lower in reflection of these developments. In turn, freight-carrying activity declined in the year to reflect this environment. In 2023 however, freight-carrying activity has risen 3.8%, under the scope of a thriving economy that has been trading and producing more in the year, despite having a few slowdowns in these variables now that inflation has not been slowing down. But, as downstream sectors have been under more pressure to deliver as the market for various goods have been scaling up, freight activity of chemicals has been able to scale up. This has boosted freight activity for 2025 and 2026.