# Labor Battle Shuts Down Canada's Railroads in Blow to Supply Chain

> Canada's two major railroads, CN and CPKC, shut down fully after midnight when they locked out more than 9,300 unionized workers who failed to agree on a new contract. The stoppage halted goods movement across the country and backed up trucking and ports in Canada and the US. Affected cargo includes fertilizer, potash, grain, coal and cement.

- Date: 2019-09-03 · published 2019-09-03T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region Canada · magnitude high
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/57096-labor-battle-shuts-down-canada-s-railroads-in-blow-to-supply-chain
- Commodities: [Potash (KCl)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/POTASH.md), [Urea](https://feedsoft.ai/c/UREA.md), [Wheat (SRW)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WHEAT.md)

## Why it matters

A national rail shutdown stops grain and potash movement to export ports, which pressures Canadian basis and delays fertilizer deliveries to farms. Congestion and rerouting also raise freight costs.

## Read by commodity

- UREA: bullish ▲
- WHEAT: bearish ▼
- POTASH: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| UREA | 2024-07-18 | [Canadian Railway Strike Poses Threat to Global Supply Chain \| Food Logistics](https://feedsoft.ai/events/29277-canadian-railway-strike-poses-threat-to-global-supply-chain-food-logistics.md) | +0.8% | +3.9% |
| UREA | 2023-09-29 | [Major Canadian rail carriers to embargo shipments](https://feedsoft.ai/events/34122-major-canadian-rail-carriers-to-embargo-shipments.md) | -2.8% | -7.8% |
| UREA | 2022-07-06 | [Fertiliser supply chain \| Maersk](https://feedsoft.ai/events/40414-fertiliser-supply-chain-maersk.md) | +2.2% | +13.7% |
| UREA | 2021-12-05 | [Freight fright for farm inputs - Supply Chain Council of European Union \| Scceu.org](https://feedsoft.ai/events/43481-freight-fright-for-farm-inputs-supply-chain-council-of-european-union-scceu-org.md) | -0.3% | -1.0% |
| UREA | 2022-11-15 | [N Supply, Prices Remain Unsettled](https://feedsoft.ai/events/38998-n-supply-prices-remain-unsettled.md) | -0.4% | -12.1% |
| WHEAT | 2026-01-29 | [Low Water on U.S. Rivers Disrupts Grain Exports, Raising Costs for Ag Supply Chains - Agrolatam](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16395-low-water-on-u-s-rivers-disrupts-grain-exports-raising-costs-for-ag-supply.md) | -0.5% | +3.1% |
| WHEAT | 2021-10-21 | [Bumper grain crop set to challenge supply chain: ANZ - Grain Central](https://feedsoft.ai/events/44497-bumper-grain-crop-set-to-challenge-supply-chain-anz-grain-central.md) | +0.4% | +8.8% |
| WHEAT | 2022-09-13 | [U.S. railways to halt grain shipments ahead of potential shutdown -agriculture sources](https://feedsoft.ai/events/39623-u-s-railways-to-halt-grain-shipments-ahead-of-potential-shutdown-agriculture.md) | +4.3% | -8.0% |

## Sources

- wwd.com: https://wwd.com/sourcing-journal/logistics/canadas-railroads-shut-down-rail-lockout-strike-cn-cpkc-teamsters-labor-contract-negotiations-aafa-steve-lamar-inventory-1238838871/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.