Cargo shipments up on Seaway this year

Heavy increases in Canadian grain shipments, petroleum products and the development of new traffic in coal exports have been key factors in the steady growth of cargo shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The Seaway's year-to-date total cargo shipments from March 22 to October 31 was 29 million tonnes, up two per cent from the same period last year.
Strong gains were reported by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in shipments of Canadian grain, which increased by 15 per cent to 4.7 million tonnes, when compared to 2010 figures, and shipments of petroleum products from refineries in regions like Nanticoke and Sarnia to St. Lawrence River ports are up by 90 per cent to two million tonnes.
Since the start of the navigation season, shipments of project cargo are also up 31 per cent to 128,000 tonnes compared with 2010.
"Project cargo is comprised of mainly wind turbine components. There are quite a few projects going up," said Andrew Bogora, communications officer at St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation.
"They are coming predominantly from Europe. Given the strength of the wind industry, that indicates the boom in the project cargo."
Year-to-date U.S. grain shipments are down 40 per cent to 1.2 million tonnes compared with last year, while iron ore remains down by 17 per cent with a total of 7 million tonnes so far this season.
"I have been told their harvest has been less than optimal," Bogora said of U.S. grain. "The Mississippi system that was hampered by flooding is back up and running so there's a bit less American grain in our system.
"However, Canadian grain remains a bright spot and will continue its momentum throughout the year."
The St. Lawrence Seaway has increasingly become the choice shipping route to export low-sulphur coal to European markets. Coal shipments totalled close to three million tonnes as of October 31. The coal is transported by rail from the Powder River Basin in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming to the post in Superior, Wisconsin, where it is then transported by ship through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system.
"With the amount of coal being sent to China, the European market is tapping into coal from western U.S. states," said Bogora.

"The coal coming out of the states is highly sought after by the environment conscious Europeans because it burns cleaner and has a higher heat content."

Montreal-based Canada Steamship Lines, which operates one of the largest Canadian fleets on the Great Lakes- Seaway, has transported more than 300,000 tonnes of coal from Superior, Wisconsin to the Port of Quebec from mid-summer to mid-October, where it has been loaded onto ocean-going vessels for export to Europe.
The vice-president of marketing and customer service for Canada Steamship Lines, Tom Brodeur, reported to St. Lawrence Seaway Management that the U.S. is exporting 100 million tonnes of coal a year and that congestion is occurring in East Coast and Gulf of Mexico ports leading shippers to look for alternative routes. This, Brodeur reported, is why the St. Lawrence Seaway is becoming the most efficient route for many companies to send their products from the interior of North America out to the Atlantic Ocean and over to European destinations.
Bogora said Brodeur expects coal shipments will increase next season.
The Port of Thunder Bay, which is the largest grain-handling port on the Great Lakes-Seaway system, reported that its shipments of grain to Southern Ontario and international markets have increased by 20 per cent this season to 4.6 million, compared to 2010.
President of the Chamber of Marine Commerce Ray Johnston believes that the development of new shipping traffic such as coal exports to Europe is a promising indication of the waterway's future prospects. He also reported that the overall shipping traffic on the St. Lawrence Seaway has remained steady so far, despite wider global economic concerns.
The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway maritime industry supports 227,000 jobs in Canada and the U.S., and annually generates $14.5 billion in salary and wages, $34.6 billion in business revenue and $4.7 billion in federal, state/provincial and local taxes, according to Seaway officials.
"It's a major part of our economy, often a silent factor," said Bogora of the Seaway shipping industry.
North American farmers, steel producers, construction firms, food manufacturers and power generators depend on the 164 million tonnes of essential raw materials and finished products that are moved annually on the system.
"If you look at the number of jobs affected by the Seaway shipping industry, it's a very significant amount," Bogora said.
This trade corridor saves companies $3.6 billion per year in transportation costs compared to the next least-costly land-based alternative, he added.