The Port of Thunder Bay is located at the head of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System on Western Lake Superior. It is Canada’s ‘gateway to the west’ providing access to international markets for Western Canada. The port is the largest outbound port on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System.
The Port of Thunder Bay has eight grain terminals with a total storage capacity of 1.2mt (million tonnes); details of the port’s facilities are below:
Canada Malting Co. Ltd. 62,800
Cargill Ltd. 176,020
Mission Terminal Inc. 119,672
Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd. 40,000
Richardson International 208,505
Viterra A&B 362,648
Viterra C 231,000
Western Grain By-Products Storage Ltd. 30,000
Wheat, durum, coarse grains, oilseeds, feed grains, peas and other pulse crops as well as various grain by-products are handled annually by the terminal operators.
The port offers the fastest grain ship turnaround time of any western Canadian port, and loading rates at its terminals range from 1,000tph (tonnes per hour) to 3,400tph.
According to Tim Heney, CEO of Thunder Bay Port Authority, the Port of Thunder Bay saw a huge jump in grain shipments from Western Canadian farmers in July, with almost 800,000 metric tonnes of grain moving through the port compared to 550,000 tonnes in the same month in 2010. “It shows the huge capacity that exists in the port. We’re able to handle a large influx of product all at once. We have the largest grain storage in North America,” says Heney.
COAL, POTASH AND OTHER DRY BULKSThunder Bay Terminals Ltd. provides the link between rail and vessel for the movement of low-sulphur bituminous and lignite coal from mines in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, destined for Ontario Hydro's thermal generating stations.
It also handles metallurgical coal for Ontario and international markets, as well as other dry bulk commodities such as potash, urea and various agri-products.
It has a 262-metre berth available for ships, and it is serviced by road and CP Rail, with CN Rail access for all commodities.
Valley Camp Inc. is a division of Synfuel Technologies LLC, and has three cargo handling areas — a free-flowing, dry bulk transfer system, a bulk commodity dock with cranes and a dry bulk handling facility. It accommodates the largest Seaway-sized vessels at its docks, which are 550 metres and 200 metres in length. It handles potash and dry bulk products such as salt and steel. Valley Camp Terminal is currently expanding its paved storage area to accommodate more salt storage. It will now be able to handle in excess of 100,000 tonnes from the previous limit of 60,000 tonnes. This product comes in by self-unloader and goes out by truck for use on the highways in northern Ontario.
GENERAL CARGOKeefer Terminal is a full-service domestic and international freight transport facility. The terminal features dockside rail, heavy lift capabilities, an intermodal yard, storage facilities and laydown areas for staging and storage. It has 750 metres of
marine berth, and a dimensional project cargo railway track running within three metres of the dock face. Keefer Terminal is directly serviced by CN and CP railways, and has direct access to TransCanada Highway and US highways. The terminal specializes in handling general and project cargo such as heavy lifts, wind turbines, forest products and machinery destined for Western Canada.
WATERFRONT SITE AVAILABLE FOR DEVELOPMENTA 16-hectare waterfront site is available for development. It has a 61 metre dock, rail access and an operational 173,000-tonne grain elevator is available for grain related to biofuels production or wood pellet storage.