Thunder Bay Coal Terminal
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Thunder Bay Coal Terminal is in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Thunder Bay Terminals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Russel Metals Inc. The coal terminal was established in 1978, and has annual total handling capacity of 11 million metric tons.[1]
Location
The terminal is located in the Port of Thunder Bay, at the head of Lake Superior in the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It extends 55 kilometers along Lake Superior and the Kaministiquia, McKellar, and Mission Rivers.
Background
Established in 1978 and located at the head of Lake Superior, Thunder Bay Terminals provides a transportation link between rail and vessel for the movement of coal from mines in Western Canada to Ontario and other domestic and international markets. The terminal was originally built in the 1970’s to ensure that there would be a reliable flow of Western Canadian coal to Ontario Hydro providing a secure all-Canadian link for Ontario Hydro’s coal requirements. Thunder Bay Terminals’ subsequent expansion brought the addition of a dedicated dry-bulk handling facility for direct rail-to-vessel trans-shipments of most free-flowing dry bulk material including both metallurgical and thermal coal, potash, petroleum coke, liquid edible oils, urea, coarse grains and various other agricultural products.
Thunder Bay Terminals has the ability to transship coal from Western Canada and Powder River Basin (in Wyoming and Montana) onto Great Lakes vessels for transport up the St. Lawrence Seaway. Thunder Bay Terminals has an 820-foot-long berth capable of loading vessels to full Seaway draft and employs state-of-the art technology which allows lake ships in the order of 30,000 tonnes to be routinely loaded in 6.5 hours.
Product is delivered to the terminal by unit trains by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways. Thunder Bay Terminals’ site consists of almost 225 acres of land and has a ground storage capacity of approximately two million tonnes. The total annual throughput capacity of the terminal is 11 million tonnes.[1]
Coal volumes at the Thunder Bay Coal Terminal peaked in 1987-1990, with the terminal shipping over 3 million tonnes in each of those years. In the early 2000s, volumes had fallen to around 1.7 million tonnes per year. Coal cargo volumes have continued to decline since then; 2010 was the last year in which the terminal shipped more than one million tonnes. In 2020, the port handled 434,021 tonnes of coal, down from 779,893 handled in 2019.[2]
Terminal Details
- Owner: Thunder Bay Terminals
- Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
- Annual Capacity (Tonnes): 11 million (all cargo)
- Status: Operating
- Start year: 1978
- Type: Exports
- Sources of coal: Western Canadian Coal, Powder River Basin (USA)
Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Corporate Background" Thunder Bay Terminals, accessed July 2021.
- ↑ Port Cargo Statistics 1952-Present, Port of Thunder Bay, Accessed December 2021
