Traffic patterns | While shipments were up at Port of Thunder Bay last year, volumes are hard to predict, says CEO
The 2013-14 shipping season is underway at the Port of Thunder Bay.
Tim Heney, chief executive officer of the Thunder Bay Port Authority, said the first laker arrived at the port March 26, a day after the opening of the Soo Locks at Sault Ste Marie, Ont.
Fifteen ships had been loaded with grain as of April 11 and another five were in port.
Heney called it an average start to the shipping season.
“We were quite encouraged (by grain shipments) … at the end of the year but so far, the start (to 2013 shipping) has been a little bit slow, actually,” he said.
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“We were hoping for a bigger surge, but we’ll see what happens.”
Grain shipments through Thunder Bay totalled 6.5 million tonnes last year, roughly 10 percent higher than the 10-year average of 5.9 million tonnes.
Wheat volumes were up 10 percent.
Annual grain volumes were the second highest level of the past decade.
Much of the increase in 2012 grain traffic occurred late in the year, after the CWB marketing monopoly was eliminated.
Heney said the port was hoping the surge in grain business would carry over to the new shipping season.
Traffic patterns in the new marketing environment are hard to predict, he added.
Grain companies with export facilities at Thunder Bay are adjusting to new logistical issues, and lake freight is now dealing with multiple companies rather than just CWB.
A higher-than-normal snow pack across much of the Prairies has also affected grain shipments, as has unseasonable cold weather in March and April.
“We saw quite a dramatic change at the end of last year in terms of more wheat shipments through the port and more ocean vessels, so we did see some good signs, but that was only one quarter,” Heney said.
“But we’re into a whole new world now without the wheat board, and really, our success is based on the success of the (companies) that we have here, the Richardson, Viterra, P&H and Cargill.”
Heney said the elimination of CWB delivery calls will likely result in less predictable delivery patterns, where market prices influence farm sales and deliveries.
Thunder Bay has more storage capacity than any other grain export facility in North America, he added.
That capacity could prove beneficial in managing the flow of grain in and out of the port.
“Because we have that big capacity, if we’re a bit behind, we can make that up in a very short time,” Heney said.
“You can load a lot of grain at one time here if you have the ships ready to do it.”
Heney said the addition of new lakers over the next few years will improve shipping efficiency on the Great Lakes.
At least 14 new ships will be added to seaway fleets.
