SASKATOON – Winter finally closed the St. Lawrence Seaway last week, but not before shippers recorded a 17 percent increase in grain traffic over last year.
When the MV Nordic Blossom cleared the locks near Montreal on Dec. 29, the seaway had been open some nine days longer than originally scheduled, thanks to some unseasonably mild weather.
“The weather has just been a real blessing,” said Jim Campbell, public affairs officer with the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority. “We got a few extra days this year.”
When everything is finally added up, grain shipments through the Welland Canal are expected to be just under 13 million tonnes, up from 11.2 million tonnes a year ago.
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That will include about 7.5 million tonnes of Canadian grain (up 20 percent) and about 5.5 million tonnes of U.S. grain (up 13 percent).
Lakehead volumes up
Since all of that Canadian grain started its journey through the inland waterway system at Thunder Bay, it’s not surprising that volumes were also up sharply at the Lakehead.
Just under 11 million tonnes were shipped through the port in 1994 (including about 450,000 tonnes shipped by rail last winter), which translates into a 31 percent increase from the previous year.
“With almost 11 million tonnes, that’s way more than everybody thought we’d handle,” said Tony Kaplanis, port co-ordinator for the Grain Transportation Agency.
When the season opened in April, many people involved in the grain industry at the Lakehead were bracing themselves to handle as little as five or six million tonnes, “so we fooled everybody, I guess.”
This year’s tonnage is above Thunder Bay’s five-year average of 10.1 million tonnes, exceeded during that period only by the 14.3 million tonnes handled in 1991.
More special crops
Thunder Bay’s year was marked by a heavy movement of non-board grains and special crops. As of Dec. 18, canola shipments were up 60 percent from the year before at 991,000 tonnes, while flax was up 70 percent at 431,000 tonnes.
Since most of those commodities can’t be pooled like Canadian Wheat Board grains, and must be delivered to specific terminals, that created a lot of logistical and administrative problems to be overcome, said Kaplanis.
“We had a lot of fun,” he said with a laugh.
While there were some complaints at the port about the trend away from board grains, the consensus was that it’s better than the alternative, he said: “We’re not looking at this negatively. This is our future, let’s not beef about it.”
A Canadian Wheat Board official said there is “a good chance” some grain will be shipped by rail out of Thunder Bay this winter, but the agency is still negotiating with the railways.
Meanwhile, the improved grain traffic helped contribute to an overall 19 percent increase in cargo shipped through the Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the seaway in 1994.
Grain accounted for about one-third of the 37 million tonnes shipped through the system.
Campbell said the impact of the increased tonnage on the seaway’s bottom line won’t be known until the end of the fiscal year, March 31.
Last year the seaway recorded a net operating loss of $6.1 million, compared with an $11 million loss in 1992.
