EDMONTON,
Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - CN (TSX:
CNR) (NYSE: CNI) grain car unloads at Canadian west coast ports
reached near-record levels in the 2010-2011 crop year ended on
July 31.
CN moved more than 125,000 grain cars to export
terminals at the ports of Vancouver and Prince
Rupert during the crop year -- the most in 20 years. The
Vancouver movement of 6.7 million
tonnes was driven by record canola shipments of 3.9 million tonnes,
while the Prince Rupert total
shipments topped 4 million tonnes for the sixth consecutive crop
year, matching another record.
"This is the most canola CN has ever moved in
one crop year," said Andy Gonta, CN vice-president, Bulk Products.
"Alberta farmers planted record
acres of canola last year, enjoyed strong yields, and harvested a
record crop. Our customers then did an excellent job of promoting
and selling the product in overseas markets."
During the past crop year, CN fully implemented
its new Scheduled Grain Service Plan, which was launched in
January 2010. The Plan achieved an 81
per cent success rate in delivering cars ordered to specific
elevators on the scheduled day.
"We are pleased with the improvement in service
reliability we received last crop year from CN," said Bob Miller, Senior Vice President, North
American Grain for Viterra, Canada's largest agribusiness. "CN's Scheduled
Grain Service Plan has significantly improved the reliability for
spotting railcars in our country grain handling network, allowing
us to more effectively utilize our resources and provide additional
value to farmers by better scheduling deliveries of grain to our
elevators."
Both parties are optimistic that further
efficiency improvements are to be gained in the supply chain
through collaboration, communication and the application of proper
metrics.
Mike Cory, CN senior vice-president, Operations,
Western Region, underscored the grain plan's success and the
cooperation from customers.
"We listened to what our customers were telling
us, and learned some lessons about how to better collaborate across
the entire grain supply chain," said Cory. "CN, the marketers, the
country grain elevators, the port terminals and the shipping lines
ensured that grain was handled efficiently at each point in the
chain, from prairie to port and beyond. The fact that we were
able to achieve a high rate of success is a testament to our
collective efforts."
In the coming months, CN intends to build on the
success of the Scheduled Grain Service Plan, using superior service
to help customers grow their share of world markets. A priority for
CN will be to make the most efficient use of assets across the
entire supply chain.
"We expect another big year for the West Coast,
and we're working with our customers to ensure all available
capacity is used effectively," said Cory.
In the 2010-2011 grain crop year, CN moved over
12.5 million tonnes of grain from the Prairie provinces to export
terminals in Vancouver,
Prince Rupert, and Thunder Bay.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this news
release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
under Canadian securities laws. CN cautions that, by their nature,
these forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not
materialize and that current economic conditions render such
assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made,
subject to greater uncertainty. Such forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results of performance of the Company or the rail industry to be
materially different from the outlook or any future results or
performance implied by such statements.
Important risk factors that could affect the
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the
effects of general economic and business conditions, industry
competition, inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations,
changes in fuel prices, legislative and/or regulatory developments,
compliance with environmental laws and regulations, actions by
regulators, various events which could disrupt operations,
including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, floods
and earthquakes, labor negotiations and disruptions, environmental
claims, uncertainties of investigations, proceedings or other types
of claims and litigation, risks and liabilities arising from
derailments, and other risks detailed from time to time in reports
filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the
United States. Reference should be made to "Management's
Discussion and Analysis" in CN's annual and interim reports, Annual
Information Form and Form 40-F filed with Canadian and U.S.
securities regulators, available on CN's website, for a summary of
major risks.
CN assumes no obligation to update or revise
forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in
circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable
Canadian securities laws. In the event CN does update any
forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will
make additional updates with respect to that statement, related
maters, or any other forward-looking statement.
CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its
operating railway subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans to the Gulf of
Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince
Rupert, B.C., Montreal,
Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas
of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth,
Minn./Superior, Wis.,
Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St.
Louis, and Jackson, Miss.,
with connections to all points in North
America. For more information on CN, visit the company's
website at www.cn.ca.
SOURCE CN