MONTREAL, QUÉBEC, CANADA — The Canadian National Railway (CN) for the eleventh consecutive month has set a record by shipping more than 2.95 million tonnes of Canadian grain and processed grain products via carload in January.

This exceeds the previous January record set in 2019 of 2.33 million tonnes by 27%, as well as the three-year average of 2.24 million tonnes by 32%.

“What great news to start off 2021,” said Rob Reilly, executive vice president and chief operating officer at CN. “I could not be prouder to see such fluidity and collaboration across all supply chains at the same time, especially in Canadian grain.

“We know that harsher weather is always just around the corner, so it is critical that we keep up the pace and collaboration that we have seen in the first half of the crop year to keep goods moving. I want to thank our railroaders, the ports, Canadian grain farmers, as well as all of our supply chain partners; this ongoing collaboration and constant communication is critical to the recovery of the North American economy.”

This brings the volume of grain moved via carload in the first half of the 2020-21 crop year, which spans from early August to the end of the following July, to over 17.5 million tonnes. This is 24% higher than the three-year average of 14.1 million tonnes, and 17% higher than the record of 14.9 million tonnes set in the 2018-19 crop year.

CN also is breaking records with over 600,000 tonnes of grain moving direct from western Canada via container, in addition to volumes shipped from eastern Canada.