Port of Thunder Bay’s 2012 shipping season is off to a strong start. Cargo shipments for the month of April were up 34 per cent over last year, due mostly to higher grain volumes. Grain shipments, most of which were carried to St. Lawrence River elevators for further shipment overseas, increased by 250,000 tonnes for the month. As in 2011, wheat and canola continue to account for the majority of the increase in grain shipments. Monthly wheat shipments were up 63 per cent over last year.
A wide variety of cargo was handled in the Port last month, including Keefer Terminal’s first project cargo shipment of the year. Netherlands-flagged vessel M/V Flintersun delivered a shipment of wind turbine blades and nacelles to the terminal in late April. The cargo was loaded onto railcars and left for its Western Canadian destination before month’s end. In the wake of the Flintersun was another shipment of wind turbine components aboard the M/V Morraborg, also Dutch-flagged.
2012 year-to-date cargo handled at Port of Thunder Bay totaled 1,052,089 tonnes, a 36.9 per cent increase over 2011 volumes during the same time period.