THUNDER BAY – The Port of Thunder Bay has very little to fear as trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. continue, says the port authority’s CEO, at least not yet.
Very little potash and grain are exported to the U.S., the top commodities moving through the port, said Chris Heikkinen in an interview Tuesday.
On Monday, Donald Trump announced a “massive deal” was in the works to import potash from Belarus rather than Canada.
“There’s very little potash actually imported to the U.S. from Thunder Bay. We really are an overseas export port for potash. So, the potash that you see moving through Thunder Bay is going primarily to Europe and South America,” he said.
A spokesperson for the port authority confirmed none of the potash moving through the port this year has been destined for the U.S., with most going to Europe and some staying in Canada.
The proposal is still theoretical, Heikkinen said, but if Trump were to diversify the import of potash and Canada needed to export more potash to other countries, the port would play an even more significant role.
“At this time, you don’t see it potentially having a significant effect. I think it really will come down to if a deal is ultimately made and how much volume they’re going to pull out of Belarus,” he said.
This comes on the tail of a trade talk breakdown between the two countries in late August.
After the Trump administration imposed new 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods and Canada promised counter-tariffs in response, the Chamber of Marine Commerce issued a statement saying the escalation in trade between the two countries will cause significant challenges for many marine shipping companies on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.
U.S. import shipments are suffering as a result of the tariffs, Heikkinen told Newswatch, but the port is actually seeing record numbers overall.
“What’s been going on with the tariffs and how this potentially impacts Thunder Bay is that you require a certain number of vessels coming into the Great Lakes with cargo inbound to support your exbound, your export” he said.
“Ships really don’t want to come in empty, to come and load with grain or potash. So, there’s certainly a risk there that if this environment continues, you could see some ship supply issues within the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Seaway System.”
“The large volumes and demand for the product coming through Thunder Bay are more than enough to ensure that the port still does well regardless of the environment happening,” he added.
Statistics from August showed the port moved just over a million tonnes of grain so far this year, already up by nearly 400,000 tonnes over 2025.
The port moved just under 240,000 tonnes of potash, up by just over 100,000 tonnes from last year.
“It could be a record year for potash moving through Thunder Bay this season…Last year we had good volumes of product moving through this port. It was one of the best years we’ve had in the last three decades. This year is shaping up to be the best season we’ve had in the last three decades,” Heikkinen said.
The port is fortunate that goods from here do not typically go to the U.S., he said.
Grain makes up roughly 80 per cent of the total tonnage shipped out of the port, while over the last several years, approximately 400,000 tonnes of potash annually has been shipped, according to Heikkinen.
About 5 per cent of the port’s grain heads to the U.S., he said, as an example.
“We’re always looking to diversify our product mix and to see what other commodities we can handle in Thunder Bay and how we can attract those to our supply chain,” Heikkinen said.
The port is also seeing more competition than it has in six years.
At the end of August, the Port of Churchill, in northern Manitoba, made its first shipment of grain to Europe since 2020. Approximately 30,000 tonnes of Canadian durum wheat were shipped, the first of three shipments expected this winter.
Churchhill is moving relatively small volumes of product, Heikkinen said. The Arctic port on Hudson’s Bay is complementary to Canada’s overall port capacity, he said, and will be important in trying to move more exports out of the country.
“Thunder Bay offers significant available infrastructure and capacity for moving bulk products out of Western Canada,” he said. “And I think that we will remain in that position.”
