CP achieves record annual Canadian grain haul

Canadian Pacific today announced it hauled more Canadian grain and grain products in the 2019-2020 crop production year than in the railroad's 139-year history.

In total, CP moved 29.52 million metric tons (MMT) this crop year, exceeding last year's record of 26.77 MMT by 10 percent, company officials said in a press release.

In addition to the record crop year, the railroad achieved its best July for transporting Canadian grain and grain products, with 2.58 MMT hauled. The July record is CP's ninth monthly record set during the 2019-2020 crop year.

CP officials attributed the record year in part to the efficiency of the 8,500-foot high efficiency product (HEP) train model, which can carry 40 percent more grain than the 7,000 train model when combined with the additional capacity of CP's high-efficiency hopper cars. By year's end, more than 30 percent of the CP-served unit train loaders will be 8,500-foot HEP qualified, increasing capacity and efficiency in the grain supply chain.

Shipping containers also played an important role in exporting the nation's crop, CP officials said. This year, the railroad moved more than 650,000 metric tons of western Canadian grain to export market in containers. With containerized grain included in the total, CP transported more than 30 MMT during the crop year.

CP is continuing to take delivery of high-capacity hopper cars as part of a half-billion-dollar purchase in 2018 of 5,900 of the newest generation rail cars. The new cars can carry 10 percent more grain by weight and 15 percent more volume than the older Canadian government cars they are replacing; more than 2,900 are now in service, CP officials said. 

As a result of the capacity upgrade, the amount of grain that CP was able to haul in each rail car increased by 1 metric ton from a year earlier.

"I am immensely proud of the CP family and the entire grain supply chain in delivering a second consecutive crop-year record, and by such a significant margin," said CP President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Creel. "This truly shows the value of CP's capacity for the movement of grain."

Also this week, CP submitted to Minister of Transport Marc Garneau the railroad's 2020-2021 Grain Service Outlook Report, which can be read here.