The ongoing truck blockade at a Canada/US border in Coutts, AB is causing some headaches for grain buyers in the southern part of the province but imports of American corn are largely unaffected.
“I know there are a few (loads) coming in on trucks, but lots of the corn is still coming in on rail,” said Mike Fleischhauer, trader for Eagle Commodities Ltd. in Lethbridge. Since Jan. 30, commercial trucks and other vehicles have blocked Highway 4, a 103-kilometre stretch which runs from the American border to Lethbridge, to protest COVID-19 health measures.
Fleischhauer said some shipments of DDGs are being impacted by the blockade but added truckers are generally trying their best to avoid the Coutts crossing. But while the Coutts crossing is open 24 hours and sees at least 600 trucks a day, other alternatives are not open all the time.
“The Carway border crossing, which is 100 km west (of Coutts), was open, but now it’s closed. The Del Bonita crossing (50 km west of Coutts) is closed. I guess if you went further east and go into Saskatchewan and down. . . but a lot of these guys aren’t doing that. They’re waiting until it’s ready to go,” he said.
A tweet from the Canadian Meat Council on Monday said there were over 150 loads of Canadian Beef stuck at the Coutts crossing. “Our members are going to have to slow down production if this keeps up,” it said.
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