October 17, 2008

Grain exports still moving smoothly out of Canada's West Coast

Grain and oilseed exports out of Canada's west coast are still moving smoothly, despite speculation that global credit concerns would drive some end users to back away from their purchases and cause supplies to back up at the coast.

The Financial Post reported on Oct. 16 that pulp shipments out of the Port of Vancouver were backing up due to problems with end users securing credit. The article indicated that shipments of grain were also starting to pile up. However, grain export sources said there had yet to be any problems from their perspective.

Lach Coburn, west coast manager of shipping with Cargill Ltd., said that while there was a lot of speculation going on, there haven't been any issues with the grain and oilseed export business out of Canada.

"In fact we're shipping out as much as we can right now," Coburn said. He noted that Cargill had two ships loading at the West Coast on Thursday, with another three waiting to get in.

The Canadian Wheat Board was also not seeing any grain back up, according to CWB spokeswoman Maureen Fitzhenry. "Everything's operating smoothly," she commented.

Pulse and special crops exporter Gerald Donkersgoed, of Finora Inc. in Vancouver, agreed that there was no grain backing up at the coast, despite some of the talk in the markets.

"People do need to eat, and that's what we're selling here," said Donkersgoed, adding that, "there is business to be done, and demand that needs to be filled."