By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
A major Canadian grain company now operates 18 rail-served elevators in the nation’s prairies region, and a 19th is set to open soon.
G3 Canada Ltd. recently marked its first unit train at a new elevator in Rycroft, Alberta, that’s served by CN. During the week of June 4, the inaugural 150-car train was loaded on the elevator’s new loop track, says G3 spokesman Peter Chura.
In late 2021, G3 began building the elevator, which can handle a maximum capacity of 42,000 tons. It features truck unloading areas and road access for area grain producers.
CN officials acknowledged G3’s milestone in the following Tweet: “Sending a #SupplyChainSalute to G3 Canada on loading the first train at their new state-of-the-art high-throughput elevator in Rycroft. CN is proud to work with G3 to deliver the grain to G3 Vancouver’s export terminal for optimal grain supply chain efficiency.”
CN also will serve G3’s new grain elevator in Melfort, Saskatchewan, after it opens in July. CNNext month, G3 expects to open its next new elevator, which will be located in Melfort, Saskatchewan. The facility also will be served by CN, handle the same maximum capacity of 42,000 tons and feature a loop track, truck unloading areas and road access.
That elevator’s first unit train should be loaded sometime in early July, Chura estimates.
CN also serves G3 elevators in Irriacana and Morinville, Alberta; Glenea and MacGregor, Manitoba; Hamilton, Ontario (along with Canadian Pacific Kansas City): and Maidstone and Melville, Saskatchewan.
Grain collected in G3’s network typically is moved to its five marine terminals for export. Those terminals are located at ports in Hamilton and Thunder Bay, Ontario; Quebec City and Trois-Rivieres, Quebec; and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Last year, G3 handled a record volume of grain shipped from overseas points to its port terminal in Trois-Rivieres, which is served by CN and CPKC. A drought in western Canada caused some grain crop shortages in 2022.
The Trois-Rivieres terminal is the only facility on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system that can unload grain from large Panamax ships and transfer it to trucks, trains or smaller vessels, according to G3.
Through 44 weeks of the 2022-23 crop year (ending June 3), CN moved 24.6 million metric tons of bulk grain in western Canada, up 56% on a year-over-year basis. CNCanadian food and beverage companies that couldn’t source enough grain domestically contracted G3 to facilitate grain imports from overseas providers.
Well into the 2022-23 crop year, CN has boosted grain volume. Through 44 weeks of the crop year — a period that ended June 3 — the Class I moved 24.6 million metric tons (MMT) of western Canadian bulk grain, up 56% compared with the same period in the previous crop year and 11% versus the three-year average.
About 53,000 hopper cars’ worth of available grain supply capacity — or 5 MMT — was unused on CN in the 44-week period.
“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, following last year’s drought and reduced customer demand since April,” CN officials said in a western grain report for week 44.
