Agri-Food Strongest Growth Sector for Hamilton Port

Feb 03, 2023

Agri-food commodities are accounting for an increasing volume of shipments through the Hamilton port.

The Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA) reported this week that agri-food commodities made up fully one-third of the 9.8 million tonnes of total cargo that transited the Hamilton port in the 2022 shipping season. Specifically, the port handled more than 1 million tonnes of soybeans and 1.5 million tonnes of wheat and corn, in addition to receiving the most raw sugar ever in Hamilton, 85,000 tonnes, destined for refining and use by food manufacturers in the region.

“We know that food security at home and abroad is a major concern. We’re proud of our port partners who are manufacturing essential products like sugar, flour and cooking oil for use locally, as well as our export terminals who are delivering high-quality Ontario-grown grain around the world,” said Ian Hamilton, President and CEO of HOPA Ports.

On the other hand, the conflict in Ukraine had a negative impact on the port’s fertilizer trade, since traditionally most of the urea-based fertilizer used on Ontario farms originates in the Baltic region. As Canadian importers sought out new fertilizer sources to avoid tariffs, the total amount transiting the Ports of Hamilton and Oshawa combined declined by 25% from 2021.

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Border View Farms is a mid-sized family farm that sits on the Ohio-Michigan border. My name is Nathan. I make and edit all of the videos posted here. I farm with my dad, Mark and uncle, Phil. We also have a part-time employee, Brock. My dad started the farm in 1980. Since then we have grown the operation from just a couple hundred acres to over 3,000. Watch my 500th video for a history of our farm I filmed with my dad.

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