CN Surpasses Grain Supply Chain Target Despite Extreme Cold Weather

CN on Dec. 19 reported that it surpassed its winter supply chain capacity target of 595,000 metric tons, moving a total of 620,000 metric tons of grain and processed grain products from western Canada during the week of Dec. 4 (week 19 of the 2022-23 crop year), despite extreme cold weather.

CN reported that it moved 10.9 million metric tons (MMT) of western Canadian bulk grain through week 19. This tonnage, the railroad says, is 7% higher versus the average of the prior three years, and 33% above last year.

“The capacity of Canada’s grain supply chain varies through the crop year, and multiple factors place a real limit on the volume of grain that can move through the supply chain at any point in time,” CN said. “The maximum sustainable capacity of the grain supply chain is also a function of the capacity and operational efficiency of the individual pieces of that supply chain, from origin to destination.

For week 19, CN reported that it planned 6,217 bulk hopper cars, representing more than 100% of the maximum end-to-end sustainable grain supply chain capacity. This total, the Class I says, is net of any orders canceled by customers, after order placement in week 18 during week 19.

According to CN, grain shipment week 19 saw extreme cold weather across some regions in western Canada and required “train lengths to be restricted to safely move traffic across the network.”

CN also reported that all North Shore Vancouver terminals saw some out of car time throughout the week due to the timing of inbound loaded traffic. Additionally, two North Shore Vancouver terminals saw reduced unload numbers due to mechanical issues or slow unloading of processed grain products. Even with these unexpected events, CN says, “minimal train staging was required to manage corridor fluidity, and minimal staging is expected to occur heading into grain shipment week 20.”

One South Shore terminal remained heavy with CN traffic throughout week 19, according to the railroad, requiring some orders to be spotted later to better match unload windows provided by the serving carrier.

Prince Rupert Grain terminal also saw some out of car time due to similar timing of inbound traffic and reduced unload capacity because of unexpected mechanical issues.

CN reported that it supplied 90% of planned CN hopper cars within the week requested, and 93% within 24-72 hours of the end of the want week. Almost 500 cars were not spotted in the want week requested “due to grain terminal issues at origin or timing of unload windows from the carrier serving the South Shore of Vancouver grain terminals.”

According to CN, approximately 27,000 hopper cars’ worth of available grain supply capacity on the railroad went un-utilized over 19 weeks of the crop year, representing approximately 2.5 million metric tons. This was due in large part to the impact of historically low grain supplies available for movement during the first six weeks of the crop year, the Class I said.

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