↑ Back to News Brief System Condition The Prairie grain transportation system in May 2026 is running at record throughput and simultaneously failing to meet car supply targets — a contradiction that matters more than either number taken alone. CPKC’s April 2026 performance was its best April on record: 2.9 million metric tonnes of Canadian…
Canada’s two major railways posted record April grain volumes — CN at 3.2 million metric tonnes and CPKC at 2.9 million metric tonnes — but the throughput headline obscures a supply problem producers are living with at the elevator door. Hopper car fulfillment has remained below the 90% performance threshold for fourteen consecutive weeks, with…
System Condition The defining constraint in the Prairie grain transportation system this week is not vessel congestion or rail supply — it is terminal storage compression at the west coast. Vancouver and Prince Rupert terminal elevators are running at 96% of combined working capacity, according to the Quorum Corporation Grain Monitoring Program Weekly Performance Update…
System Condition A demand-driven volume acceleration is the structural condition now pressing against west coast export infrastructure. The March 1, 2026 reset of Chinese import duties on Canadian canola — effective duty on canola seed reduced to 14.9% from a prohibitive 75.8% provisional rate; separate tariffs on canola meal suspended to zero through December 31,…