CN Rail is gearing up in an effort to maintain new monthly record grain shipments this year.

Executive vice president Sean Finn says CN set a new monthly grain export record in February, the 13th consecutive month it has set a new record.

CN Rail says it shipped a record 2.28 million tons of grain last month, despite some bitterly cold weather.

Finn says CN exceeded the previous February record set in 2019 by over seven percent.

He is hoping the shipments can continue at a record pace with purchases of new locomotives and high capacity hopper cars.

So far this crop year, CN Rail has moved over 19.7 million tons of grain to market, 17 percent higher than the record set in the 2018-2019 year.