Weather seems to be the variable which makes forecasting abit...

Weather seems to be the variable which makes forecasting abit difficult, IMO.
For example, the shipping season could have been stretched out to the end of Oct last year due to a late freeze-up but we did not have the sales in place, ships booked or product to take advantage. If this October is similar to last, then we may be fit to squeeze in another 2 ship loads, IMO.

We know that the local weather in January was harsh* & February was relatively mild and March to date
seems to be similar to January, but we dont know when & for how long the thaw-out will take. The company forecast for the June Qtr seems to indicate that trucking will be disrupted for 20 days or so.
(40K ton less than the Sept Qtr)

Given last year's experience, the Marketing Dept should be wised-up to achieve optimum sales/shipping
and a significant improvement on last year's pricing.

All IMO, of course.

(* TIG trucked 50K ton to port despite harsh weather.)