THUNDER BAY – With shipping numbers near their highest in over a decade, and a new warehouse facility set to open in the spring, the Thunder Bay Port Authority is closing out the decade on a high note.
Around 9.2 million metric tonnes of cargo moved through the Port of Thunder Bay in 2019, the authority estimates. With the exception of 2014 (9.34 million metric tonnes), authority CEO Tim Heney says it’s been over a decade since the port has seen those kinds of numbers.
Heney attributes that partly to China’s embargo on Canadian canola, imposed in March of this year. More of the crop is now being shipped East, through Thunder Bay, on its way to European markets. That led to a doubling of the amount of canola shipped through the port in 2019. Heney expects those higher levels to continue, even if Chinese policies soften.
“Once you find new routes and new markets, they tend to stick for a while,” he says.
Heney says the Port Authority is forecasting another good year in 2020, hoping to crack 10 million metric tonnes. Delays on some wind energy projects led to a drop-off in wind turbine shipments this year, but he expects those to rebound next year.
A new heated warehouse facility will also boost capacity and increase efficiency at the port. Expected to open in May, it will replace an aging on-dock storage shed constructed in the 1960s. That’s the latest stage in a $16 million terminal reconfiguration, which also includes upgrades to rail tracks. Government kicked in just over half of that price tag, through the National Trade Corridors Fund and Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.
While the port no longer occupies the central place in Thunder Bay’s economy it once did, it remains a significant contributor. Shipping-related activity contributes an estimated $370 million annually to the city’s economy and directly employs around 900 people.
