BNSF raises freight rates for wheat

(Reuters circulated the following story by Julie Ingwersen on April 2.)

CHICAGO — The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. will raise its rates to ship wheat from the northern U.S. Plains by $100 per car starting June 1, the carrier said in a statement on Friday.

The higher rates will affect wheat shipped from North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota to domestic destinations and export markets in St. Louis, the U.S. Gulf and the Duluth-Superior port on the Great Lakes, the statement said.

The railroad, a unit of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., said on Thursday that it also plans to raise rates by $100 per car for wheat shipped out of the southwestern United States.

“We base our pricing, as we always do, on market conditions,” BNSF spokesman Pat Hiatte said.

BNSF is the largest U.S. grain hauler. Along with other carriers including the Canadian Pacific Railway and Union Pacific Corp. (nyse: UNP – news – people), BNSF has struggled with a backlog in grain shipments stemming from large North American corn and wheat harvests last fall and a booming grain export market.

Grain dealers have said that rail car placements at grain elevators in North Dakota, for example, were running up to 50 days behind at times this past winter.

Hiatte said BNSF was making progress with car placements.

“We are proceeding down that path. We are getting caught up,” he said.