gokeefe wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:06 pm
It's not so much a case of one or the other as much as a case of volumes. Paper traffic is down, Kimber of course is probably up quite a bit. But intermodal is simply a monster for them.
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Paper traffic may not be what it was 20-30 years ago, but I would say that it is still substantial and at minimum has stabilized with the shift away from printing paper to packaging and other growth markets. In addition, the pulp business is very strong, with ND Paper, who is clearly in it for the long term, leading the way. The 4 mills that are left all recently expanded or are planning to expand production with only Jay being down due to the digester explosion, though they too were on an upward trajectory prior to that incident.
I'm not saying Intermodal isn't in their plans, but I'm pretty sure it isn't their main focus moving forward. If they are so desperate for capacity, they could have likely spent a fraction of the $700M they are laying out for Pan Am to buy up additional property for container storage adjacent to the existing Worcester ramp.