Grain and other bulk commodity shippers are voicing concerns that Canadian railway capacity is no longer up to the job of moving product to export markets reliably.

Railway capacity worries exporters

Shippers say the railways have been whittling away at their own capacity for years 
and that’s affecting Canada’s national economic security

As bulk shippers contemplate future growth in their shipments, their concern over whether Canada’s major railways are up to the job is also growing. Jim Everson, Soy Canada’s executive director, says agriculture and resource sector shippers are concerned CN and CP may not have the capacity to deal with larger volumes. All the resource-based industries



What The Australians Say Post-AWB

The following contains selected quotes from an online forum in Australia. The question posed was this: Canadians often hear about how bad it is in Australia now that your marketing board is no longer a monopoly. What are some real-world stories from the guys who actually went through the transition? Was it worth it? Is

Railways Announce Capital Spending For 2011

On the heels of posting impressive full-year results for 2010, CP and CN have announced capital spending plans for 2011 that could exceed $2.6 billion. CP plans to invest in the range of $950 million to $1.05 billion on rail infrastructure while CN intends to spend $1.7 billion. CP chief financial officer Kathryn McQuade says


Australian Rail Network Needs Investment

Australia risks losng wheat sales to competitors if it cannot upgrade port and rail infrastructure fast enough and remove bottlenecks that have hurt exports following the country’s best harvest in four years. Silos in the world’s fourth-largest wheat exporter are brimming with grain after the breaking of a once-in-a-lifetime drought, but inefficient ports and snail-pace

Australia Grain Pipeline Needs Investment

“East coast grain exports are moving at absolutely a snail’s pace and exports generally across the industry for wheat are a lot lower than they should be.” – MI KE CHASELING Australia’s grain supply pipeline needs significant investment to overcome problems exporters face in getting grain to customers, an industry representative said March 3. Mike


U. S. Farmers Cheer Road, Rail, River Upgrade Plans

“I don’t know that it will happen in four years, but at least the trend line is changing.” – PAUL ROHDE U. S. President Barack Obama’s plan to inject billions of dollars into infrastructure projects is welcome news for the world of agriculture, transportation industry experts said. But the government must also pass targeted legislation

Black Sea exports continue to grow

The Black Sea region, with its vast tracts of uncultivated land, is poised to benefit from any rise in grain consumption in developing countries where higher incomes are changing food habits, especially demand for meat. Around 35 million to 40 million hectares of extra land that can be cultivated in Russia, Ukraine or Kazakhstan and