Amid generally tight supplies, grain shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway have suffered so far this year.
Total cargo shipments through the seaway between March 22 and Oct. 31 totaled 28.5 million tonnes, up 1.9% from the same period last year, according to a release Wednesday from the Chamber of Martine Commerce. However, following a record year in 2020, Canadian grain shipments were down 17%, although still in line with the five-year average.
Ontario grain shipments are expected to remain steady through years’ end, while Prairie grain volumes are projected to be in line with average figures following this year’s drought-reduced harvest, the release added.
Meanwhile, increased diversity in cargo shipments handled at the Port of Thunder Bay, including fertilizer, is helping to offset lower volumes of Prairie grain this season. The Port’s general cargo facility, Keefer Terminal, will receive its third shipment of phosphate fertilizer – destined for Western Canada - in the coming weeks. Further, October was the strongest month this year for potash shipments in Thunder Bay, 67% above last year’s tally and 34% above the five-year average. Most of the potash is directly exported via ocean-going vessels to Europe.
At the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority, fertilizer inputs have more than doubled, ‘keeping Ontario farms humming through the remainder of the fall harvest and into the spring,’ the release said.
At Port Windsor, grain traffic is lagging due to rains holding up the fall harvest but shipments are still holding steady at just 3% below record 2020 exports. Port of Johnstown grain traffic is reported running slightly ahead of last year, with an additional five to six vessels expected in November.
“We anticipate a strong finish to the shipping season as Canadian domestic fleets are booked with a variety of cargoes and ocean vessels are coming into the system to deliver steel and export grain,” said Terence Bowles, President and CEO of The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation.
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