Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) moved record amounts of grain and grain products in May out of the port of Vancouver.
The railway moved 15 million metric tonnes of grain for export through Vancouver in May, breaking the record set in May 2017 by 5 percent, the company said on June 4.
Since the start of the 2018-2019 crop year, CP has moved 22.5 million metric tonnes of Canadian grain and grain products.
“Since August of last year, we have moved approximately 500,000 metric tonnes more grain than ever before, bettering our record at this time back in the 2015-2016 crop year,” said Joan Hardy, CP vice president sales and marketing for grain and fertilizers. The crop year runs from August 1 to July 31.
The all-time monthly record for moving western Canadian grain and grain products through the port of Vancouver happened in November 2018, when CP shipped 17,150 metric tonnes.
Capital investments helped increase grain export volumes, according to CP. The company is in the process of adding new hopper cars to its fleet as part of wider plans to spend up to C$500 million to invest in 5,900 hopper cars. The railway currently has 1,000 new high-capacity hoppers, with more than 1,900 hoppers expected to be in service by the end of the year.
Additionally, CP has adopted an 8,500-foot high efficiency product train that it plans to roll out at grain facilities in increments through the spring of 2020. The trains and the new hopper cars will enable CP to move 44 percent more grain per train, Hardy said.
In addition to record grain volumes heading out of Vancouver, CP announced last week that it has signed a three-agreement to be Yang Ming Marine Transport’s rail carrier at the port of Vancouver, effective January 1, 2020.
CP will handle Yang Ming’s Vancouver traffic via CP’s Global Container Terminal’s Deltaport at the port of Vancouver, according to the agreement. Shipping carriers Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express will also be moving out in whole or in part of that terminal, enabling all companies greater access to markets in the Midwest, CP said.
