Logistics Dominate Discussion

VANCOUVER - Oct 24/13 - SNS -- Big harvests always present big challenges and it looks like this will be the case again this season.

Not only are record yields reported for most crops, the harvest started later than normal, with the result there was more pressure on the handling and transportation system out of the gate.

Many companies say that railcar allocations did not keep pace with demand through the middle of October, with some saying they got six out of 10 cars ordered each week. Depending on location and company, movement of pulses from the Prairies to the port had fallen two and half to four weeks behind schedule by the third of October.

That is a key reason exporters have sometimes struggled to make sure they have enough of the right quality and type of product needed to meet immediate shipping commitments.

Transportation backlogs create the perception that the system stands in the way of growth in exports of pulses and other field crops. However, over the past decade, not only has the quantity of product moving through bulk terminals increased, the range of products has increased.

Between 1996 and 2000, bulk field crop exports from Canada averaged 25.8 million metric tons (MT) per year. During the most recent five-year period they averaged 32.1 million. A decade ago, bulk conventional pea exports averaged 597,000 MT per marketing year. The five-year rolling average is now 1.8 million MT of bulk conventional pea exports from Canada.

Nearly all soybeans and most field peas are now shipped on a bulk conventional basis from Canada, while a growing part of the lentil crop also moves this way. Small quantities of canary and mustard seed have always shipped in bulk through Thunder Bay or Vancouver. If dry edible beans ship in bulk cargo vessels, they are still packed in bags.