Canadian Pacific says it hauled more Canadian grain and grain products in the 2020–2021 crop production year than any other crop year during CP’s 140-year history.
Working in close collaboration with customers and other participants in the Canadian grain supply chain, CP moved 30.62 million metric tonnes (MMT) this crop year, exceeding last year’s record of 29.52 MMT by 1.10 MMT, or 3.7 percent.
This is the fourth consecutive year that CP has broken its annual movement record. Including grain moved in containers, CP moved a total of 31.21 MMT, up 3.4 percent from last crop year.
“CP’s team of exceptional railroaders, dedicated to providing our customers with service excellence, and the strong execution by our customers and terminal operators, has enabled the supply chain to move more grain than ever before,” says Joan Hardy, CP vice president Sales and Marketing, Grain and Fertilizers.
“The challenge created by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 17 months has underpinned the value of strong communication and supply chain collaboration. Despite a sharp reduction in demand this spring, CP and our customers have again broken our movement record, and we celebrate that achievement across the supply chain.”
CP’s 2020–2021 grain movement was 15 percent ahead year-over-year through the critical fall peak, providing the grain customers excellent service at the time when it is most important to their supply chains. This continued through the winter months. At the end of March, CP had moved 14 percent more this crop year compared to the record movement last crop year. However, because of market conditions and a tight supply of grain, demand started to fall off in April.
Through May, June and July shipper demand was almost 15 percent below the same period last year, and 25 percent below the fall peak demand levels.
This year's successes are a testament to the efficiency of the 8,500-foot High Efficiency Product (HEP) train model and investments made by CP’s customers. An 8,500-foot HEP train can carry in excess of 40 percent more grain than the 7,000-foot train model when combined with the additional capacity of CP’s new high-efficiency hopper cars.
Customers are actively investing in their elevator networks to accommodate 8,500-foot trains. Today CP serves 25 elevators qualified to load 8,500-foot HEP trains, 13 of which became qualified during the 2020–2021 crop year.
By the end of 2021, more than 40 percent of the CP-served unit train loaders will be 8,500-foot HEP qualified, increasing capacity and efficiency in the grain supply chain for customers and stakeholders.
CP continues to take delivery of high-capacity grain hopper cars as part of a half-billion-dollar commitment in 2018 to purchase 5,900 of the newest-generation railcars. The new cars can carry 10 percent more grain by weight and 15 percent more by volume than the older Government of Canada cars they are replacing.
Today, CP has more than 4,600 owned and leased new high-capacity hopper cars in active service, with plans to add 1,600 more by the end of 2021.
This capacity upgrade has increased the amount of grain CP was able to transport in each railcar by more than 1 metric tonne from a year earlier, and by almost 3 metric tonnes since the start of the fleet renewal program in 2018.
On July 31, CP submitted its 2021–2022 Grain Service Outlook Report to the Honourable Omar Alghabra, Canadian Minister of Transport, outlining CP’s ability to move grain during the upcoming 2021–2022 crop year, taking into account the total volume of grain expected to be moved.
To find out more about CP’s preparations for the new crop year, click here.
About Canadian Pacific
Canadian Pacific is a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States with direct links to major ports on the west and east coasts.
