Part 1: Windpower component shipments have boosted breakbulk totals for Canadian ports

Part 2: Positive Outlook on St. Lawrence Seaway

Part 3: Valleyfield’s Arctic Cargo Horizons

Part 4: Amherst Island wind energy project

Positive Outlook on St. Lawrence Seaway

In an interview, Bruce Hodgson, director of market development for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, offered an optimistic outlook. “Project cargoes are important to HWY H2O. The Great Lakes St. Lawrence System competes vigorously with other gateways such as the East Coast of the US and the US Gulf. Our ports, carriers and other supply chain stakeholders work collaboratively to insure the seamless delivery. It is a team endeavor!

“We handle a wide variety of cargoes, from wind turbines and blades to modules destined to the oilsands in Western Canada. The volume of project cargo moving through HWY H2O for the 2018/2019 season was at a similar level to the previous year at 400,000 metric tons. This traffic was destined to a number of ports including Toledo, Cleveland, Thunder Bay, Duluth, and Detroit. We also saw the export of locally manufactured wind blades from Duluth to Europe.”

“Looking forward,” Hodgson stated, “we see a robust year ahead, with wind cargoes forecast to be up and a number of infrastructure projects coming on line. We will be aggressively continuing our sales and promotion initiatives in the project cargo/over-dimensional market, working with existing and new carriers explaining the ease of transiting our system.”

Also optimistic was Tim Heney, CEO of the Port of Thunder Bay on the tip of Lake Superior which in recent years has developed a growing business in project and dimensional cargoes. He said he looked forward to another strong Seaway season in 2019 in the project and breakbulk business at Keefer Terminal.

The season began this spring with a return of steel and rail shipments destined for western Canada.

“Steel shipments continue to increase and diversify with beams, rail and pipe and we are also looking at coil shipments for this season,” Heney said, “Other regular cargoes include wind turbines, electrical transformers and pressure vessels.”

Otherwise, he added, “The big story is the construction of our new rail yard and heated warehouse building in partnership with the National Trade Corridors Fund and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund. This project will increase cargo handling capacity and efficiency.”