Competition crux of port's declining grain shipments.

• Author: Louiseize, Kelly.
• Position: Transportation ReportThunder Bay, Ontario

A number of variables have made it difficult for officials to pinpoint the reason why the Thunder Bay Port Authority's shipment of grain cargo has been declining over the years.

Market shifts, internal and external port competition, location, prairie drought and technological developments in rail have taken chunks out of the Thunder Bay port's market share.

"This is an issue for all Canadian ports. The seaway has so many competitive loads like rail, and now other ports, ... there are all kinds of competing forces," says Tim V. Heney, director of terminal operations at the Thunder Bay Port Authority.

At one time, prior to the 1960s, the Keefer Terminal, a facility in the hub of the Thunder Bay port, was the only game in town with the means to handle up to one million tons of general cargo per year, Heney adds. But in the last 10 years, and more specifically the last three, there has been a decline in the shipment of grains, which has been the port's primary commodity.

The highest grain totals to come out of the Thunder Bay port amounted to 17,679, 719 million tonnes in 1983. A decade later it plummeted to 8,157,168 million tonnes, and Heney says 2003 figures will not fall that much short of last years' even though there has been a 30 per cent rise in wheat production this year.

Today, a majority of the Canadian crop goes to Asia, and it is technically more efficient to go through the Vancouver port.

The seaway has faced higher tolls and shippers are held ransom to higher artificial costs, Heney says. Seaway tolls are very expensive serviced have weighed down the cost of transporting goods through the ports.

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In contrast, the United States does not charge for seaway fees and most Canadian ports are within a few hundred miles of U.S. border ports, Heney explains. As well, he adds that Canadian government officials believe the seaway system and ports should be self-sufficient. Moreover, they suggest it should be able to generate revenue.

"Our facilities (buildings and port) here have to pay property taxes. In the United States the ports charge property taxes," Heney adds. "They are heavily subsidized and we have to be self sufficient and we do not receive any funding."

But there is one port that has received funding. The Port of Churchill...