SASKATOON – Higher tolls helped the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority cut its losses in 1993-94.
The federal crown corporation that runs the inland waterway system recorded a net operating loss of $6.1 million in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 1994.
That may not sound very good, but it’s a marked improvement over the previous year, when the seaway authority ended the year nearly $11 million in the red.
And seaway officials say the current year will likely produce a bottom line that’s very similar to 1993-94.
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“We’ll be in the same vicinity as last year, a loss of about the same size,” said Andre Landry, director of planning and business development.
He added it’s difficult to foresee the day when the seaway authority ever turns a profit.
“Our goal really is break even,” he said. “We’re not in a profit-making situation. We’re into a cost-recovery mode.”
The amount of cargo moved through the seaway in 1993 was relatively unchanged from the year before. In the Montreal-Lake Ontario section, traffic was 600,000 tonnes higher at 32 million tonnes, while Welland Canal tonnage was down 1.4 million tonnes to 31.8 million.
But despite those lower volumes, toll revenue was up by $3 million, thanks to a 5.8 percent toll increase in the 1993 shipping season.
Total revenue on the seaway (including the Thousand Islands Bridge) was $71.9 million, up from $67.3 million in 1992-93. The other major factors in the improved bottom line were a $900,000 reduction in expenses and a $2 million increase in revenue from leases and licences.
Reducing losses
In the seaway’s annual report to Parliament, president G. R. Stewart said the agency must earn more on each tonne of cargo that moves through the system if it wants to reduce its losses further or turn a profit.
“The authority feels that (32 million tonnes) is the turnaround point in terms of traffic on the system in the foreseeable future,” he said in the report.
In 1993, total grain movement on the seaway was down 11.4 percent to 10.9 million tonnes on the Montreal Lake Ontario section. Canadian grain was down 18.1 percent to 6.3 million tonnes, while shipments of U.S. grain were unchanged at 4.5 million tonnes.
Those figures could improve this year. According to the Canadian Grain Commission, shipments of the six major grains and oilseeds out of Thunder Bay are up about 21 percent so far this navigation season at 3.8 million tonnes, with another 2.7 million tonnes booked for August, September and October. (That doesn’t include special crops, which have in recent years become a larger part of seaway business.)
Pat Price photo
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