Thunder Bay Export Volumes Strongest in 20 Years

As of May 31, more than 1.8 million tons of grain have been loaded onto vessels at Ontario’s Thunder Bay port – this marks the strongest start to a season in nearly 20 years for the largest grain shipper on the Great Lakes, according to port officials. The five-year average for grain shipping for the port as of the end of May is 1.4 million tons.

The increased throughput is in response to higher grain volumes, and also reflects an overall increase in grain shipments along the St. Lawrence Seaway. Between March 31 to May 31 of this year, grain shipments through the seaway were 1.9 million tons – up 7% year on year for the time period.

Following a significant increase in grain shipments through the port last year after the dissolution of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly, grain volumes are expected to continue to surge through 2015.

“Major Canadian grain companies (are) seeing the value of shipping more grain through the Great Lakes-Seaway system and fully exploiting the grain terminal investments made over the last few years in Thunder Bay and other ports along the waterway,” says Tim Heney, president and chief executive officer of the Thunder Bay Port Authority.

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