Westshore Terminals Investment Corporation (WTIC) reported revenues for the quarter ended September 30 of $71.2 million, compared with revenues of $55.6 million for the same quarter of 2011. After-tax profits were $28.2 million (38 cents per share), versus $10.9 million in 2011 (15 cents per share).
WTIC operates the coal export terminal located at Roberts Bank, in Delta, B.C., some 32 kilometres South of downtown Vancouver, and is part of Port Metro Vancouver. WTIC shipped 27.3 million tonnes of coal in 2011, surpassing the combined total exports of all other Canadian coal terminals. A significant portion of WTIC’s shipments consist of U.S. shipments from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, and such shipments accounted for 8.2 million tonnes of total volumes in 2011.
In Q3 of 2012, WTIC shipped 7.1 million tonnes, slightly less than the 7.4 million tonnes it shipped in Q3 of 2011. Fifty-eight per cent of the volume was metallurgical coal, while 41 per cent was thermal coal. Coal loading revenues increased by 22.5 per cent in Q3 of 2012 to $9.33 per tonne, compared to $7.36 per tonne in 2011, due primarily to a higher average rate paid by WTIC’s customers as a result of changes in contract rates. In addition to revenues earned from coal loadings, WRTIC enjoyed “other” revenues of $4.6 million during the quarter ($1.3 million in 2011), consisting of wharfage and ancillary service income.