vessels Archives | Alberta Farmer Express

A live Google map from the evening of March 30, 2021 showing vessels currently at Thunder Bay. (Portofthunderbay.com)

Port of Thunder Bay opens for season

MarketsFarm — The 2021 navigation season is officially underway at the Port of Thunder Bay, as the tugboat Sharon M1 and barge Huron Spirit arrived late Friday. The tug-barge combo discharged a calcium chloride brine solution, used as a stabilizer and dust suppressant. The same combo also opened the season 2020, one year ago to […] Read more

Grain storage at a Russian seaport. (Pridannikov/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Markets

Baltic Dry Index tops 2,000 points

By Phil Franz-Warkentin, GFM Network News March 17, 2021

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have moved steadily higher over the past month, nearing some of their highest levels of the past year. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a major indicator of shipping rates, has moved higher most of the past month, settling above 2,000 points for the first time in five months on Tuesday, […] Read more

Crops

Thunder Bay port on pace for largest season in over 20 years

By MarketsFarm Team, GFM Network News December 3, 2020

MarketsFarm — Shipping activity through the Port of Thunder Bay remained strong during November, with just over a million tonnes of grain moving through the facility on the northern shore of Lake Superior. Increased demand for Canadian grain in Europe, the Middle East and Africa has led the port to a 20-year high for cargo […] Read more

A demonstrator stands at a blockade on CN track west of Edmonton on Feb. 19, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Codie McLachlan)

Crops

Grain vessels backing up at West Coast

By MarketsFarm Team, GFM Network News February 20, 2020

MarketsFarm — Vessels waiting to ship grain off Canada’s West Coast are backing up as blockades across the country slow rail traffic, according to reports tracking grain movement. Railway blockades have sprung up at a number of locations across the country over the past two weeks, as protestors express solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing […] Read more

A CN freight train remains halted as train tracks are blocked two km away at Tyendinaga, Ont., east of Belleville, on Feb. 14, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

Crops, Reuters

Canada rules out sending police in on rail protests

Superior Propane expects supply shortages soon

By David Ljunggren, GFM Network News February 15, 2020

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s Liberal government said on Friday it was deeply concerned about protests by aboriginal activists that are blocking some key railway lines but rejected a call to send in the police. Indigenous communities opposed to the construction of a gas pipeline project in British Columbia started interrupting rail traffic last week. […] Read more

A canola field blooms in Manitoba’s Interlake on July 11, 2019. (Greg Berg photo)

Canola, Crops, Markets

Canola supplies in commercial pipeline hit fresh high

By Phil Franz-Warkentin, GFM Network News February 14, 2020

MarketsFarm — Visible canola supplies in the commercial pipeline hit their highest level in more than three years in the latest Canadian Grain Commission data, with the slow pace of export movement likely to keep those stocks at burdensome levels. Total visible Canadian canola supplies as of Sunday were pegged at 1.6 million tonnes. That’s […] Read more

Crops, Markets

Grain vessel lineup rising at Vancouver

By MarketsFarm Team October 3, 2018

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

Crops, Weather

Adverse weather slows West Coast grain movement

By MarketsFarm Team February 7, 2018

Adverse weather at Canada’s West Coast is causing a backup of vessels waiting to load grain, according to the latest weekly Grain Monitoring Program performance update compiled by Quorum Corp. A total of 30 ships were waiting in Vancouver as of Sunday, which compares with the year-to-date average of 22, according to the report. A […] Read more

(Commercial Port of Vladivostok, vmtp.ru)

Crops, Machinery & Shop, Markets

Baltic Dry Index hits three-year highs

By Phil Franz-Warkentin - MarketsFarm September 12, 2017

CNS Canada — The Baltic Dry Index has seen some strength over the past two months, rising to its highest levels in nearly three years. The BDI settled Monday at 1,355 points, having gained roughly 500 points over the past two months. The index was last this high in November 2014. The BDI is compiled […] Read more

Crops, Weather

Large number of vessels waiting to load at West Coast

By Phil Franz-Warkentin - MarketsFarm February 16, 2017

CNS Canada — A large backlog of ships is waiting to load grain at Canada’s West Coast due to a combination of poor weather, early arrivals and railroad logistical issues. The Port of Vancouver lineup included 26 vessels as of Tuesday, according to the latest weekly report from the federal Grain Monitoring Program administered by […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Live cattle hit two-month high

U.S. ag secretary backs proposed meatpacking investigator

U.S. grains: Soy eases on improved weather view

GFM Network News