Grain movements through the Port of Thunder Bay last year reached their highest level in nearly 20 years, according to figures released by the port authority today.
Despite a late start to shipping due to heavier-than-normal ice cover, the Ontario port moved 8.3 million tonnes of grain during the 2014 shipping season, more than any other season since 1997.
Strong grain numbers throughout 2014 were buoyed further by a busy December, in which 1.1 million tonnes of grain were moved through the port.
The Thunder Bay shipping season will come to a close next week when the final three lakers of the season leave the port.
The Sault Locks are scheduled to close before the end of the month.
Thunder Bay grain movement in 2014 easily surpassed shipments from the previous year.
Grain shipments in 2013 came in a hair below 5.5 million tonnes, according to the port authority.
Total cargoes moved through the port — including grain, coal, potash and other goods — exceeded 9.3 million tonnes in 2014, up from 6.5 million tonnes a year earlier.
Grain accounted for nearly 90 percent of the port’s total cargo last year.
