The 2015-16 crop year appears to be off to a smooth start, at least when it comes to grain transportation.
Grain deliveries to country elevators and export terminals are flowing smoothly, according to industry sources that monitor grain transportation.
Vessel lineups at Vancouver decreased in late August and empty car order fulfillment by Canada’s major railways continues to meet demand to western ports, according to the Grain Monitoring Program.
“So far this crop year, everything is moving really well and they’re keeping a pretty good, low inventory of product out at the coast,” said Quorum Corp president Mark Hemmes, whose company runs the program.
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“Right now, we don’t see any signs that it’s going to be a difficult year.”
In its weekly performance summary dated Sept. 1, the monitoring program said space at country elevators is good, producer deliveries have been steady and available space at west coast terminals is in a comfortable range.
“Deliveries in the country so far have been actually really good,” Hemmes said.
“We’re anywhere between 800,000 and 900,000 per week and grain companies, for the most part, are all getting the cars that they need. There have been some hiccups here and there but so far, so good.”
Many growers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are anticipating above average yields, while growers in Alberta are expecting a small drought-impaired harvest.
From a shipping perspective, it means more grain that is shipped to Vancouver en route to Asian markets is likely to be sourced from the eastern Prairies.
“For west coast movements, there’s probably going to be a longer length of haul,” said Hemmes.
“That’s one of the things that we’re going to be watching closely is to see how this distribution pattern will impact shipping.”
