NEWS RELEASE
Ottawa, Ontario –- Iron ore and grain exports continued to drive a St. Lawrence Seaway shipping resurgence in the first half of the shipping season with cargo shipments up 18 per cent over 2016.
According to The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, total cargo tonnage from March 20 to July 31 reached 16 million metric tons – 2.5 million metric tons more compared to the same period in 2016.
“Cargo shipments first started to improve last autumn and we’re very pleased to see that positive momentum continue throughout the first half of 2017,” said Terence Bowles, President and CEO of The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. “The main drivers have been U.S. iron ore and Canadian grain exports along with domestic demand for steel, salt, and construction materials. Looking ahead, we await the results of the new grain harvest as this will influence shipments later this year”.
Year-to-date iron ore shipments totaled 3.7 million metric tons, up 68 per cent over 2016 levels. Canadian domestic carriers are loading U.S. iron ore pellets at Minnesota ports/docks to ship via the Seaway to the Port of Quebec, where it is then transferred to larger ocean-going vessels for onward transport to Japan and China.
Seaway salt shipments from Ontario and Quebec mines to cities and towns throughout the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region totaled 1.4 million metric tons, up 42 per cent over the same period last year.
Canadian grain totaled 3.1 million metric tons, up nine per cent, with vessels shipping a large carry over of Prairie and Ontario grain products from last fall harvest to overseas markets.
The Port of Thunder Bay, the primary Great Lakes gateway for Prairie grain, has shipped 350,000 metric tons more grain than usual as of July 31.
The Port of Windsor is also off to a very strong start in 2017, with total traffic up by almost 20 per cent as of the end of July. Leading the surge are shipments of grain, which are up by 36 per cent and salt volumes which are up by 32 per cent. Also posting strong growth is inbound general cargo, which consists primarily of imported steel and is up by just over 25 per cent.
Commenting on the shipping season to date, David Cree, President & CEO of the Windsor Port Authority, stated: “We are obviously very pleased with these strong early results for the season. We had anticipated a slight recovery after the downturn in 2016, but these numbers have exceeded our projections. It is also important to note that two of the largest gains for the year, grain and general cargo, are shipped to a large extent on foreign vessels which utilize a significant portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway System, thus contributing significantly to the Seaway System’s strong early results.”
At the Port of Hamilton, commodities like salt, grain and fertilizer are all showing good results at the mid-point in the 2017 shipping season.
Ian Hamilton, President and CEO of the Hamilton Port Authority, explained. “While Ontario agricultural producers are major exporters of grain, including corn, wheat and soybeans, crop inputs such as urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) are also imported for use within Ontario’s farming regions. Hamilton is a key import gateway for these products. Lower fertilizer prices are driving increased import volumes this year, with tonnages through the Port of Hamilton trending 24 per cent higher so far in the 2017 shipping season, compared to 2016.”
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About the Chamber of Marine Commerce
The Chamber of Marine Commerce is a bi-national association that represents more than 130 marine industry stakeholders including major Canadian and American shippers, ports, terminals and marine service providers, as well as domestic and international ship owners. The Chamber has merged with the Canadian Shipowners Association, combining resources to advocate for an efficient regulatory climate that promotes a strong and competitive marine industry for the benefit of all industry stakeholders throughout the bi-national Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region and along the eastern seaboard and northern coasts. Based in Ottawa, Canada, the merged entity will continue to be called the Chamber of Marine Commerce.
Media Contact
Julia Fields
Chamber of Marine Commerce
(613) 294-8515
The Chamber of Marine Commerce (CMC) is a bi-national association that represents diverse marine industry stakeholders including major Canadian and American shippers, ports, terminals and marine service providers, as well as Canadian domestic and international ship owners. The Chamber advocates for safe, sustainable, harmonized and competitive policy and regulation that recognizes the marine transportation system's significant advantages in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence, Coastal and Arctic regions.
Media Contact:
Jason Card
Chamber of Marine Commerce
jcard@cmc-ccm.com
(613) 447 5401