Shipping Season Starts at the Port of ThunderBay!

Continued

“ The Port itself, in terms of direct jobs, has about 1000 workers. The economic contribution is about $ 370 million annually.”

“ Keefer Terminals a hub for other local organizations for warehousing and transportation assets that aren’t necessarily found elsewhere, like the rail assets. We have 600,000 square feet of warehouse space- the largest between Winnipeg and Southern Ontario.”

“We make most of our revenue through Keefer Terminal along with harbour dues to work on infrastructure etc. Our harbour dues haven’t been raised since 1989 to be competitive and they were actually reduced in 2001.”

You have a pretty good concept of what to expect this season at the Port before the season starts?

“ At the end of last season the shipments were moving quite quickly. The grain shipments last season started off slowly but picked up in the last few months. We anticipate the grain shipping will be strong at the start of the season because the crop was the 3rd highest on record. Last year we shipped 6.2million tons of grain through the elevators. The average is closer to 8 million tons. The average ship can hold 25,000 tons of grain. We don’t know how the crop will be this season yet.”

“ Potash was a big story last year at 1.2million tons which was a 30 year high.We may not hit that level again but 1 million is possible.”

“ At Keefer Terminal we are gearing up for a very busy season.We see higher wind farm products- tower components. Steel from Europe has been strong -steel rail, structural steel and pipe. It generally goes to customers who further manufacture the steel.”

The Port is an important asset for ThunderBay?

“ It can be easy to forget about the Port or understate it but are lucky as a city to have it.”

Anything new happening at the Port this season?

“We are looking at some rail replacement and reconfiguration to strengthen our rail capacity and the amount of rail car spaces. It will make for a more flexible laydown area on either side of the rail.”

How do you like working at the Port Chris?

“ I really enjoy it. I find the range of activities, tasks and products is very broad and that appeals to me. New things are happening all the time and you are always learning. The industry has a steep learning curve which bodes well for a long career. As we are a Port our target market is not close, but farther away. We work with our Western partners.There are many supply chains. Also Europe is important for us to be in close contact.”