CP broke more grain-carrying records in June, Q2

Canadian Pacific today announced it set both a quarterly and June record for the movement of Canadian grain and grain products during what has become a standout crop year for the railroad.

In the second quarter, CP moved an all-time-high 8.41 million metric tons (MMT) of grain-related products, breaking the previous quarterly record of 7.9 MMT set in fourth-quarter of 2019. In June, the railroad moved 2.76 MMT, besting the previous June record of 2.4 MMT set in 2014.

The Class I has consistently delivered for Canadian farmers since the start of the 2019-2020 crop year amid high demand for transportation services, CP officials said in a press release. Crop-year volumes to date are 8.8 percent ahead of last year's pace.

"The collaborative relationships [we have] built with customers, combined with responsive rail service, have contributed to another quarter of record-breaking grain movements," said Joan Hardy, CP's vice president of sales and marketing for grain and fertilizers. “We stand ready to meet what we expect will be strong demand in the final month of the 2019-2020 crop year."

By year’s end, the railroad expects more than 30 percent of unit trains to be 8,500 feet in length, following a new long-train model designed to increase grain supply chain capacity and efficiency for customers and stakeholders. More than 2,700 new high-capacity hopper cars now are in service, each carrying 15 percent more volume and 10 percent more weight than the older cars they replaced, CP officials said.