The scale of markets for goods that come in or are exported at the Port of Thunder Bay depends on downstream investments that Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney says are being made by his government.
“We’re getting the downstream ones right,” Carney said, during a visit to Thunder Bay last week. “We’ve taken measures (around strategic transportation) that help with efficiencies there. It’s all linked together. We’re getting the expansion that makes these available, including the six new icebreakers that we announced for Davie Shipyard, which will help with commercial traffic in the St. Lawrence.”
He added that there will be legislation in the next Parliament that will reinforce what he’s talking about.
Chris Heikkinen, chief executive officer of the Thunder Bay Port Authority, said Thunder Bay is primarily an export port, shipping vast amounts of Canadian grain and potash to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Central/South America.
“We have long championed a strategy of balancing this trade by striving to attract inbound cargo to Thunder Bay, thereby creating two-way cargo traffic and offering better economics for shippers using the port.”
He said this strategy has seen success with ongoing import shipments of project cargo and steel, and even bulk phosphate fertilizer for the Prairies.
“With the rapidly changing trade environment, the Canadian government is focusing supply chain investments on projects that enable greater access to export markets for Canadian outputs,” he said. “The port is exploring what additional industries it may be able to support for export, including energy, biofuels, and minerals.”
Heikkinen added that the port is also exploring the handling of intermodal shipments and said both the port and seaway are well-equipped to handle large, oversized shipments.
“In fact, this is a niche cargo for the port due to its positioning as the furthest inland port in the country. We are the closest port to Prairie markets for shipments coming from the east,” he said.
Patty Hajdu, MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North and minister of jobs and families, said the minister of transportation is working to “turbocharge” the shipping capacity of Canada’s port system.
“Part of our success story will be getting our products out to other markets in a much faster, a much more reliable way,” said Hajdu, adding that they’ll have more to say about all of this streamlining and turbocharging of the transportation system in the fall.
Meanwhile, Heikkinen says there is significant potential to further leverage the Port of Thunder Bay’s strategic positioning at the head of the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway System by expanding the industries it serves.
“We are carefully analyzing all opportunities to inform our future growth strategy,” Heikkinen said. “The port is well-built, with excess grain and bulk cargo handling capacity that has seen better utilization in recent years, and especially this season. But there is also room to further grow shipments with the infrastructure that exists today.”
