THUNDER BAY — The Port of Thunder Bay continued to see significant cargo volumes for September and October and is reporting the strongest year-to-date totals in decades.
"We haven't seen these levels of shipments by this time of year since the 1990s or even the 1980s," said Chris Heikkinen, chief executive officer of the port.
"The big volumes are grain and potash. Those are really leading the port in terms of the big-volume cargoes."
Heikkinen said the reason is likely a market shift where farmers appear to be selling more grain to Eastern markets.
"When that happens, we benefit, because we're the gateway for that cargo heading to North Africa and the Middle East and we also feed into Latin America as well," he said.
Heikkinen says this is Keefer Terminal's best year yet for inbound phosphate fertilizer, which is the only bulk cargo currently handled there.
"We've had about 80,000 tonnes compared to 50,000 tonnes that we brought in last year. We're looking to continue to try to grow that," he said.
During the month of October, shipments were led by strong grain volumes, which exceeded one million tonnes and represented a 33 per cent increase over a five-year monthly average.
September was also a busy month at Keefer Terminal with inbound shipments of steel rail, steel pipe, phosphate fertilizer, and project cargo. Heikkinen pointed out that the diverse slate of cargoes makes good use of Keefer Terminal's storage solutions, including its expansive laydown areas.
Meanwhile, Heikkinen says he is "very interested" in seeing how the next Trump presidency in the U.S. will impact the port.
"We actually found during this president's first term that there were some tariffs that ended up pushing cargoes our way, believe it or not, because at Keefer Terminal, we handle product that is inbound to Canada," he said, adding there are ports in the U.S. handling cargo that eventually moves into Canada as well.
"I've already received at least one inquiry from a potential customer who's concerned that if their cargo route through the United States could be facing tariffs, they'll be potentially looking for an all-Canadian route."
Heikkinen added, "I'll be watching it with interest."
The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative
