New numbers that were released this week by Statistics Canada seem to indicate that what many expected about the grain backlog in Western Canada were true. Grain was being left in elevators by rail companies, as they loaded other commodities in their place for transport.
In January, 25,900 rail cars were loaded with grain in Western Canada. That was a decrease of 4,830 from December, and down nearly 14,000 from November. Railways did point out that the colder weather in December, January and February had an impact on their operations. CN Rail, while hitting almost 5500 cars a week in the autumn, saw their numbers drop according to spokesperson Mark Hallman.
"In December, we got hit by extreme cold, and that had a significant impact on CN's operation, right across the west and in through northern Ontario and in our corridor south of Winnipeg to Chicago," Hallman said.
Where the large discrepancy with the numbers and the statements from rail officials comes in to play, is that the overall number of rail cars from December to January actually increased by more than 4700 cars for the month. As well, during the same time frame that less grain cars were being loaded, other commodities like oil, coal and potash were seeing increases in the number of cars loaded.
CN Rail wouldn't comment on industry wide numbers, so we reached out to Quorum Corporation for further clarification. They were unavailable for comment prior to the deadline. CP Rail was also contacted. While they didn't comment specifically on these numbers, a press release was issued by them that stated they were moving more grain than ever before in their history. They echoed the same sentiments in early February after meeting with a delegation of cabinet ministers from Saskatchewan that was led by Economy Minister Bill Boyd and Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart. We provided the numbers to Stewart and asked him for comment.
"You know, I'll take Statistics Canada's word for it," Stewart said. "From my own experience, there were plenty of long trains moving in January, they just mostly weren't grain trains. So, I'm surely not going to argue with Statistic's Canada's numbers. I am sure they are correct."
The complete numbers from Statistics Canada show year over year, the number of grain cars being loaded remained fairly steady year over year, until 2013, when that number declined by more than 30,000 when compared to 2012. In the same time period, the number of rail cars being loaded overall increased by more than 80,000. The largest contributor to this increase was from the oil and gas sector, which saw an increase of 49,130 rail cars loaded in 2013.
Numbers for this chart are from Statistcs Canada CANSIM 404-0002
As more information and reaction is obtained about this story, we will update it.
CN Rail wouldn't comment on industry wide numbers, so we reached out to Quorum Corporation for further clarification. They were unavailable for comment prior to the deadline. CP Rail was also contacted. While they didn't comment specifically on these numbers, a press release was issued by them that stated they were moving more grain than ever before in their history. They echoed the same sentiments in early February after meeting with a delegation of cabinet ministers from Saskatchewan that was led by Economy Minister Bill Boyd and Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart. We provided the numbers to Stewart and asked him for comment.
"You know, I'll take Statistics Canada's word for it," Stewart said. "From my own experience, there were plenty of long trains moving in January, they just mostly weren't grain trains. So, I'm surely not going to argue with Statistic's Canada's numbers. I am sure they are correct."
The complete numbers from Statistics Canada show year over year, the number of grain cars being loaded remained fairly steady year over year, until 2013, when that number declined by more than 30,000 when compared to 2012. In the same time period, the number of rail cars being loaded overall increased by more than 80,000. The largest contributor to this increase was from the oil and gas sector, which saw an increase of 49,130 rail cars loaded in 2013.
| Total Annual Rail Car Loads | ||||||
| Year | Grain Cars | % of Total | Total Cars | Year | Petro Cars | % of Total |
| 2009 | 379559 | 26.95% | 1408583 | 2009 | 71763 | 5.09% |
| 2010 | 357425 | 23.76% | 1504249 | 2010 | 71819 | 4.77% |
| 2011 | 363033 | 21.94% | 1654317 | 2011 | 75993 | 4.59% |
| 2012 | 378385 | 22.21% | 1703565 | 2012 | 102747 | 6.03% |
| 2013 | 348165 | 19.51% | 1784226 | 2013 | 151877 | 8.51% |
| Rail Car Loads Oct 2013-Jan 2014 | ||||||
| Month | Grain Cars | % of Total | Total Cars | Month | Petro Cars | % of Total |
| Oct 2013 | 40305 | 24.39% | 165286 | Oct 2013 | 14068 | 8.51% |
| Nov 2013 | 39860 | 25.32% | 157405 | Nov 2013 | 15463 | 9.82% |
| Dec 2013 | 30730 | 22.11% | 138984 | Dec 2013 | 15137 | 10.89% |
| Jan 2014 | 25900 | 18.02% | 143702 | Jan 2014 | 17387 | 12.10% |
| January by January Comparison | ||||||
| Year | Grain Cars | % of Total | Total Cars | Year | Petro Cars | % of Total |
| 2009 | 26571 | 24.87% | 106583 | 2009 | 7764 | 7.28% |
| 2010 | 28925 | 24.40% | 118552 | 2010 | 6928 | 5.84% |
| 2011 | 24862 | 20.55% | 120973 | 2011 | 7267 | 6.01% |
| 2012 | 34044 | 25.11% | 135559 | 2012 | 7742 | 5.71% |
| 2013 | 29899 | 21.38% | 139842 | 2013 | 12580 | 9.00% |
| 2014 | 25900 | 18.02% | 143702 | 2014 | 17387 | 12.10% |
Numbers for this chart are from Statistcs Canada CANSIM 404-0002
As more information and reaction is obtained about this story, we will update it.
Wed, Apr 24, 6:00 PM
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