Thunder Bay sees strong spring grain shipments

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Published: May 7, 2025

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Photo: Thunder Bay Port Authority

Above-average volumes of grain have come through the Port of Thunder Bay this spring, while year-to-date potash volumes have nearly doubled the five-year average.

“The Port of Thunder Bay’s 2025 shipping season is off to a solid start,” the port authority said in a news release.

While the port’s tally of 1.3 million metric tonnes of cargo is down nine per cent from 2024, that year was the best on record in more than 25 years. This year’s cargo shipments to April 30 were 11 per cent higher than the five-year average.

Cargos to April 30 included:

  • 1,096,924 tonnes of grain (average is 994,666)
  • 140,396 tonnes of potash (average is 76,763)
  • 26,074 tonnes of coal (average is 44,302)

To April 30, 59 vessels had come through the port, up from an average of 51. In 2024, 62 vessels came through the port between the beginning of the season and April 30.

About the author

Geralyn Wichers

Geralyn Wichers

Digital editor, news and national affairs

Geralyn graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in 2019 and launched directly into agricultural journalism with the Manitoba Co-operator. Her enterprising, colourful reporting has earned awards such as the Dick Beamish award for current affairs feature writing and a Canadian Online Publishing Award, and in 2023 she represented Canada in the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists' Alltech Young Leaders Program. Geralyn is a co-host of the Armchair Anabaptist podcast, cat lover, and thrift store connoisseur.

 

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