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Record volumes of potash move through Thunder Bay port

Port authority expects 30 per cent improvement in Prairie grain crop from 2021
FedNav boat in T-Bay
(Port Authority photo)

The volume of Western Canada potash shipped through the Port of Thunder Bay reached a 30-year high, according to a news release from the port authority.

More than 200,000 tonnes of product was handled by port facilities in August, a monthly record. A release from the authority shows 218,294 tonnes of potash crossed the dock during August, way up from 62,556 tonnes posted during the same period last year.

So far in this year’s shipping season, Thunder Bay has moved 852,653 tonnes of potash, a vast increase from the 258,580 tonnes moved during the same time frame in 2021.

Destinations for this fertilizer product are in Europe, North Africa and South America.

Western Canada grain shipments are off last year’s pace with 530,644 tonnes loaded onto ships last month, compared to 569,538 tonnes in August of last year.

The port is still moving grain from the 2021 Prairie harvest. This year’s grain crop will start arriving in Thunder Bay this month.

In the release, Agriculture Canada expects this year’s crop to exceed last year’s volume by 30 per cent. Year-to-date shipments of grain remain 1.3 million tonnes below this time last year.

The port authority said its Keefer Terminal remains active with incoming cargoes of foreign-made steel and wind turbine components.