GrainsWest Winter 2021

Winter 2021 grainswest.com 27 HIGH DEMAND, HIGH REWARD As malting barley is typically a high-end product, it is shipped in high-quality containers that are newer, cleaner and sport a polyethylene liner to protect the contents. While countries such as Korea are less fussy, Japanese buyers demand the best and willingly pay a premium for it. “It’s more expensive to get nicer container boxes, but Japan sets a high standard,” said Dean Giles, general manager of Columbia Containers. Located on the port’s south shore, the company operates a transloader facility that specializes in malt shipments to Japan. “Customers in Japan want to ensure there is less dirt and dust touching the product and want quality guarantees. If we have a box coming back from China with tires in it, Japan doesn’t want their container smelling of rubber. If there is rust in the box, we will paint over it to prevent rust transfer.” Though malt may have started the container trend, crops such as peas, beans and lentils have since been recognized for their potential to utilize this method. These crops have become the nation’s largest containerized crop exports. CRITICAL CONTAINERS “Especially when you get into markets that can’t take a bulk vessel, containers are absolutely the way to go,” said Greg Northey, VP of corporate affairs for Pulse Canada. “And when you deal with specialty crops like pulses, barley and some canola, containers make the most sense. “There is a whole ecosystem supply chain built up around container shipping. Vancouver alone has six transloaders who specialize in this, where they take hopper cars full of grain and stuff them into containers at the port. There is a lot of investment in this area, and a supply chain devoted to this stream of movement.” There are two common approaches to utilize containerized shipping. One route is for a processing plant to collect an empty container, fill it and transport it to a CN or CP facility. There it is loaded onto a train, taken to port and placed directly on a container vessel. “The other option is to load a bunch of hopper cars with loose product, take them by rail to Vancouver or Montreal and hand them off to a transloader for placement in containers and subsequent shipping,” said Northey. According to Northey, 25 years ago, the majority of specialty crops were shipped in containers as volumes were lower. This has shifted, largely due to growth in crop volumes grown and changes in market demand for specific crops. For example, increased pea acreage is reflected in an expanded bulk market for the crop. Today, peas and lentils are transported mostly in bulk, but about 30 per cent of specialty crops still rely on containers. While it has its pros and cons, the benefits of containerized shipping are of particular interest to specialty crop sellers.