Reading Time: 3 minutes Unionized conductors, trainpersons and yard workers at Canadian National Railway are on strike as of Tuesday morning. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), whose CTY arm represents about 3,000 unionized CN staff, announced late Monday its members would stop work at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a deal with CN,” […] Read more
CN conductors on strike
Third-quarter grain handle down for CN, CP
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s Big Two railways both booked reduced traffic but increased their revenue per carload in their grain handling segments for their third fiscal quarters ending Sept. 30. Canadian National Railway on Tuesday reported third-quarter net income of $1.195 billion on $3.83 billion in total revenues, up from $1.134 billion on $3.688 billion in the year-earlier […] Read more
Canola shipments boost Thunder Bay port activity
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Cargo movement through the Port of Thunder Bay is running ahead of the previous year’s pace, with some of the extra movement tied to increased canola exports to Europe, according to the latest data from the port authority. Total cargo movement in September of 1.1 million tonnes compares with the 919,386 tonnes reported […] Read more
Cargill’s quarterly profit up on beef, egg demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill reported a three per cent increase in adjusted quarterly profit on Thursday, citing strong consumer demand for meat and eggs in North America and growth in its animal nutrition businesses. Cargill, the largest privately held U.S. company, said its adjusted operating earnings rose to $908 million in […] Read more
Grain leaves Churchill for first time in four years
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The first grain vessel in four years left the northern Manitoba port of Churchill over the weekend, according to social media posts from port owners Arctic Gateway Group. “Happy to report the successful completion and departure of the first grain vessel of the season from Churchill,” Arctic Gateway said on Twitter and Facebook. […] Read more
P+H to buy Louis Dreyfus’ Prairie elevators
Reading Time: 3 minutes Updated — Commodities and agrifood giant Louis Dreyfus Co. is stepping out of the grain handling business it built in Canada with a deal to sell its Prairie elevator network. Louis Dreyfus (LDC) announced Wednesday it has an agreement in place to sell its 10 elevators across Western Canada to Winnipeg grain company Parrish and […] Read more
Chinese pork imports seen doubling over two years by 2020
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Chinese pork meat imports are projected to sharply rise from 2.1 million tonnes in 2018 to 3.3 million tonnes in 2019 and 4.2 million tonnes in 2020, because of the African swine fever outbreak, broker and consultancy INTL FCStone said on Monday. FCStone estimated during a commodities outlook conference in […] Read more
Viterra to buy ILTA Grain pulse processing plant
Reading Time: 2 minutes Creditor-protected Prairie pulse processor and exporter ILTA Grain is set to sell a next-to-new southern Saskatchewan facility to one of Canada’s biggest grain firms. Glencore Agriculture’s Viterra arm said Tuesday it has signed a purchase deal for the assets of ILTA’s processing facility at Belle Plaine, Sask., about 25 km east of Moose Jaw. Financial […] Read more
Railways book higher grain freight revenue for Q1
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s big two railways reported somewhat higher revenue from handling grain during their fiscal quarter ending March 31, despite both companies reporting winter weather woes. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) on April 23 reported grain segment revenue of $380 million for the quarter, up six per cent from the year-earlier period, on about 92,800 grain carloads, […] Read more
Regulator rips CN’s use of freight embargoes at West Coast
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadian National Railway has been found in breach of its service obligations on grain and other traffic by a federal regulator aiming to crack down on the company’s use of freight embargoes. The Canadian Transportation Agency on Monday released its determination on “possible freight rail service issues in the Vancouver area” last fall. The regulator […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
