TBay PORT ON TARGET FOR
STRONG SEASON FINISH

#LSN_Shipping   Steel Pipe distributed to laydown area

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO   - November 8, 2017   (LSN)  The Port of Thunder Bay is on track to ship 9-million metric tonnes of cargo this season, a level achieved just three times in the past 20 years.  As of October 31 the port has handled 6.7 million tonnes of cargo, 11% ahead of the five-year average of 6.0 million tonnes year-to-date. 

Cargo volumes are 7% ahead of last year despite October shipments being lighter than in 2016.  “October tends to be a volatile month in the port,” says Tim Heney, the Port Authority’s Chief Executive Officer, “Last year the port saw very strong grain shipments in October, and this year those shipments were closer to average.”

Grain shipments are expected to buoy in November; the current vessel line-up indicates above-average grain volumes transiting the port this month. 

General cargo shipments are also picking up speed this month.  Deliveries of heavy equipment, electrical transformers and electrical generators are anticipated in the coming weeks.  A load of steel pipe was received earlier this week and will be transferred to Western Canada by rail.  This marks the first shipment of pipe handled in Thunder Bay in a generation; the pipe is a spin-off of a growing volume of steel products being imported to the Prairie Provinces through the Port of Thunder Bay since 2014.