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Supply Chain Resiliency Watch – July 20, 2020 JUL 20 2020 | Producers | Blog Post

(Daily updates will be available on the Alberta Pulse Growers website.)

Pulse Canada and the CSCA are partners of the Ag Transport Coalition (ATC)*, which tracks performance of the Canadian railway network for the movement of grain.

A daily report has been created to provide stakeholders with insight on the performance of the Canadian rail system as it attempts to remain resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues recovering from a series of physical network disruptions in the months of January and February 2020.

July 20, 2020: Report Synopsis

Loads on Wheels

· System traffic volumes rose some 3% last week as compared to the prior week, averaging 11,500 cars per day, reflecting principally higher volumes on CN which increased 5% week over week.

· System volumes rose yesterday reflecting higher volumes on CP and CN.

· Shipper orders remain strong through week 51 with more than 9,500 orders currently on the books for this week.  This may be mitigated somewhat by ongoing hopper car rationing by CN.

Loads Not Moving

The count of idle cars rose yesterday for the third straight day, reflecting higher counts for both railways.  Both CN and CP have seen notable increases over the last 72 hours.

Port Performance

· West coast port unloads (984) fell below the 1,000 car threshold reflecting below average unloads at both Vancouver and Prince Rupert.  Having said this, west coast unloads averaged more than 1,100 cars per day last week – the fourth consecutive week above the 1,000 car threshold.

· West coast vessel counts continue to hover around 30-35 vessels per day, a consistent range over the last few months.

· Vessel counts declined overnight reflecting lower counts at Vancouver (-2) and no change at Prince Rupert – now at 32.

· Three vessels are now scheduled to arrive at Prince Rupert and 11 vessels currently scheduled for arrival at Vancouver over the next two weeks.

 

All daily resiliency reports are available on the Pulse Canada website.

*The Ag Transportation Coalition is comprised of the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA), Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC), Pulse Canada, Manitoba Pulse Growers Association (MPGA), Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, Inland Terminal Association of Canada (ITAC) and the Canadian Special Crops Association (CSCA).

For more information, go to www.agtransportcoalition.com.