Both major railways have announced record grain shipments, and with a more than a week left in the crop year, total Canadian grain exports had already topped last year’s record.
The Canadian Grain Commission reports that as of July 21, with 10 days left in the 2018-19 crop year, total exports of Canadian grain had reached 43.65 million tonnes, 2.6 million ahead of 2017-18.
In a release, Canadian Pacific said it shipped 26.8 million tonnes of Canadian grain and grain products for the 2018-19 crop year ending July 31, 2.8 per cent higher than last year’s record.
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CP said achievements for the year included a record May for grain products, a record month of 2.643 million tonnes of grain and products shipped in April, and for the first time, three consecutive months (Sept.-Nov. 2018) of shipping 15,000-plus carloads of western Canadian grain and grain products to the Port of Vancouver.
CN also announced record shipments of more than 27 million tonnes for the crop year, compared last year’s record of 26 million tonnes and 25 million in 2017-2018. CN broke its best monthly record with 2.71 million tonnes moved in November and again in April with 2.72 million tonnes. CN also delivered seven individual weeks of over 7,000 hopper cars of grain movement per week. It also moved approximately one million tonnes of grain in containers.
“CP’s record performance and focus on innovation supports the entire grain supply chain in moving increased volume,” Joan Hardy, CP vice-president sales and marketing, grain and fertilizers said in a release. “This past crop year, the 13,000-strong CP family was there to ensure even more Canadian grain and grain products moved to port for export, and to other destinations for processing.”
“Our $7.4 billion investments in our network are delivering results for Canadian grain farmers and the Canadian economy,” CN president and chief executive officer JJ Ruest said in a release. “I’m proud of what CN has achieved. Despite a late start to the harvest, record cold temperatures in February and rainy weather at export terminals restricting ship loading, our dedicated ‘One team’ of railroaders moved more grain than ever before.”
