Concerned that West Coast grain terminals could hit capacity
before Great Lakes shipping lane from Port of Thunder Bay, Ont., opens this spring
MONTREAL,
March 24, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - CN
(TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) said today it spotted 4,456 hopper cars for
loading at country grain elevators in Western Canada during the grain-crop Week 33
just ended. This marked the third week in a row that CN has
delivered more than 4,000 grain cars to Prairie elevators,
averaging 4,366 cars per week, or 23 per cent greater than CN's
average winter car-spotting performance.
Claude Mongeau, CN president and chief executive
officer, said: "We began ramping up our grain loadings as soon as
we got a meaningful break from this harsh winter's extreme cold
temperatures. We are pleased to see our network regaining fluidity.
That enables our team of dedicated railroaders to move more grain
to address the backlog of traffic resulting from the 100-year crop
harvested last fall."
Mongeau said tackling the significant backlog
will require solid end-to-end collaboration among all grain supply
chain stakeholders.
With rail volumes quickly increasing, however,
CN is concerned that grain elevator terminals on Canada's West Coast could soon hit capacity,
limiting total export volumes before the Great Lakes shipping lane
re-opens and a strong export grain program can start at the Port of
Thunder Bay, Ont.
"The Great Lakes have been frozen over by this
winter's polar vortex to a degree not seen in several decades,"
said Mongeau. "We need urgent support from the Canadian Coast Guard
to open navigation channels if we are to meet the federal
government's Order in Council requiring CN to move 500,000 tonnes,
or close to 5,500 cars of grain per week."
Mongeau added: "Railways are not the only ones
facing a significant challenge in moving this 100-year grain crop.
It is becoming clear that other supply chain participants - grain
elevator companies, shipping lines and ports -- are also straining
to handle the harvest given a full 50 per cent increase in the
amount of grain to move to export markets.
"As I have said before, blaming railways alone -
or even worse, threatening to punish them with re-regulation for an
outsized crop and winter conditions beyond their control - will not
help to move any more grain, now or over the longer term.
"Canada
urgently needs to move away from unproductive finger-pointing. We
need to encourage supply chain collaboration and promote sound
commercial solutions to address the challenge of moving so much
grain. As a key part of the solution, CN is prepared to do its part
if it is welcomed as a core member of Canada's grain team."
CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) is a true backbone of
the economy, transporting approximately C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide
range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to
manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network
spanning Canada and mid-America.
CN - Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating
railway subsidiaries -- serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince
Rupert, B.C., Montreal,
Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of
Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth,
Minn./Superior, Wis., 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.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this news
release is "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 or 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
matters, or any other forward-looking statement.
SOURCE CN