ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The number of rail carloads of grains and oilseeds to Mexico remained steady during the first quarter of 2017, and rail and farm groups this month highlighted rail importance for international trade to Mexico and beyond.

 

The number of grain and oilseed carloads to Mexico is seen especially higher when compared to the three-year average. The USDA reported a 12 percent increase in the number of carloads to Mexico over the three-year average, for first-quarter 2017, in its August 2017 Mexico Transport Cost Indicators Report.

Three U.S. railroads account for most of that freight: Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and Kansas City Southern. Their rail rates to Mexico for grain and soybeans stayed steady during first-quarter 2017 despite a rise in fuel surcharges per railcar, according to USDA.

Patrick J. Ottensmeyer, Kansas City Southern president and CEO, highlighted the importance of rail transport during a dedication of a new cargo processing facility at the Laredo, Texas, railroad border crossing August 17.

“As our governments begin the important work of updating the North American Free Trade Agreement this week, we must all remember the importance of the NAFTA trade relationship to both countries and both economies,” he said.

The Laredo/Nuevo rail crossing is the busiest on the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Kansas City Southern, processing 23 trains in both directions per 24-hour period. The new cargo facility will share non-intrusive inspection (NII) security scanning images and allow for more efficient rail cargo inspections on cargo inbound to both countries.

Mexico is increasing purchases of farm products beyond its traditionally high volumes of wheat, soy, corn and distillers dried grains with soluble (DDGS) from corn ethanol production. The U.S.

Grains Council (USGC) said last week that Mexican pet food manufacturers were receptive to adding sorghum to pet food recipes, by adding sorghum flour as well as DDGS from sorghum ethanol production.

“There is a niche market opportunity that can be important to the sorghum sector,” said Javier Chavez, USGC Mexico marketing specialist.

Rail Report Card scores

The three major carriers to Mexico saw favorable shipper reviews, or improvements in shipper reviews, for the past marketing season. Those reviews were measured in the Railroad Report Card, issued in early August by the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC).

The report is designed to complement past data-driven work demonstrating the overall importance of rail for soybeans and grains. “A shipper report card that is more attitudinal is a nice complement to the (data) analysis and will further shed light on the issue” of rail performance, said Mike Steenhoek, STC executive director.

Shippers rated seven major carriers for on-time performance, customer service and costs: Union Pacific Railroad, Canadian National Railway, CSX Transportation, Kansas Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway, BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway.

Union Pacific received the highest overall ranking, as it also did in 2014 and 2015. Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and Kansas City Southern had the highest rankings for on-time performance.