Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed legislation to improve oversight of ocean shipping, which lawmakers say will help curb inflation and ease export backlogs. The bipartisan bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on a 369-42 vote earlier this week. Biden said he had “promised to crack down on ocean […] Read more
Biden signs ocean shipping bill in bid to reduce backlogs
Port of Churchill out of commission for two years
The sight of grain vessels being loaded at the Port of Churchill in northern Manitoba won’t happen for two years, according to Sheldon Affleck, chief executive officer of the Arctic Gateway Group (AGG). The group consists of 29 Indigenous and a dozen non-Indigenous communities that own and operate the rail line from The Pas to […] Read more
Backhaul gets the heave-ho in red-hot shipping container market
Container shipping in a mess, not expected to restore itself at least until 2022
Reading Time: 4 minutes The shipping container mess created by the pandemic will likely last until at least 2022, says the vice-president of a West Coast container transloading company. “Steamship lines across the globe are all playing catch-up with the import movements from across Asia and North America,” said Jordan Atkins, vice-president of WTC Group in New Westminster, B.C. […] Read more
Will the gusher of grain movement continue?
Shipping records have shattered but the big test comes when the snow flies
Reading Time: 4 minutes The grain transportation system has been ‘pounding it,’ with monthly records falling like flies through spring, summer and even into harvest. So will it continue? That will depend on sales and demand from other sectors that ship by rail, say experts. “We’ve done very well in the aftermath of everything that’s happened in the last […] Read more
Railways ‘blowing the doors off’ with grain movement
It could be a record year for movement but bottlenecks remain despite heavy investment
Reading Time: 4 minutes Grain is flying off the Prairies now that it’s not competing with other sectors for space on the rail network. “We’ve always said that the terminals, the grain companies, and the processors feel that they can move more,” said Steve Pratte, manager of policy development at the Canadian Canola Growers Association. “This year, we’ve had […] Read more
Rail delays have everyone ‘ripping their hair out’
Every West Coast anchorage spot is filled as ships wait for rail traffic to get back to normal
Reading Time: 4 minutes It was a cold and rainy day — a gloomy but an apt setting for producers and grain industry officials touring the Port of Vancouver and witnessing the backlog of ships anchored in Burrard Inlet. The ships were barely visible in the fog for tour attendees, delegates to the Canadian Crops Convention held here earlier […] Read more
CN reports grain movement back at pre-strike pace
Canadian National Railway’s grain shipping is back to its pre-strike pace, the railway says. “By the second week of December (week 19), CN returned to shipping at peak levels, as well as taking on all customer hopper demand for the second and third weeks of December,” Montreal-based CN said in a release Thursday. “Despite a […] Read more
Elevator operators seek quick end to CN strike
The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) wants grain shipments on Canadian National Railway (CN) to resume as soon as possible. “It has a major impact for every day that we’re not moving grain on CN,” WGEA executive director Wade Sobkowich said in an interview Tuesday. “A federal mediator has been appointed and that’s a step […] Read more
B.C. longshoremen to take strike vote this week
MarketsFarm — The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is urging members at Canada’s West Coast ports to vote for a strike, as negotiations for a collective agreement have dragged on for over a year. The union members’ vote takes place Wednesday and Thursday (May 8-9). ILWU and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) […] Read more
Grain vessel lineup rising at Vancouver
CNS Canada — The lineup of grain vessels waiting for loading at Vancouver increased to 21 for Week 8 of the grain shipping season. Reports by Quorum Corp., which monitors Prairie grain handling, stated vessels at Vancouver were up 31 per cent from the previous week (17). The increase in ships raised sentiments that grain […] Read more
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