By Leo Ryan, AJOTThe tremendous increase in development of Canada’s natural resources, in response especially to feverish foreign demand led by China, has not failed to grab the attention of senior Canadian port officials. This was, indeed, the major theme of the annual conference of the Association of Canadian Port Authorities (ACPA), which was staged in August in Sept-Iles on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. Such ports as Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Quebec, and Sept-Iles are confronting new challenges and opportunities in bulk-handling. The significance of shipping Canadian commodities has sometimes been overshadowed by the public visibility of container movements since the latter involve large volumes of high-value consumer and manufactured goods. Yet, containerized cargo represents under 10% of the total volume of cargo handled in Canada’s ports. Putting natural resource developments in perspective, Pierre Gratton, President of the Mining Association of Canada, recalled that some C$20 billion is invested in Canada’s mining sector annually and that Canada attracted about 19% of world exploration spending in 2010. “Minerals account for 21% of the value of Canada’s goods exports.” The China factor? “In the 1980s, China consumed 5% of world base metals and today it’s 30%!” Gratton estimated that over the next five years the presently-proposed mining-related projects in Canada, including iron ore destined to feed Asian and European steel mills, will attain C$120 billion. These include very big international investments in the so-called Labrador Trough north of Sept-Iles. In his view, “notwithstanding the current volatility and fragility being experienced in the US and Europe, the fundamentals remain strong, as shown in the emerging economies of China and India.” Brad Julian, principal of Julian Associates LLC, pointed out that seaborne bulk shipments totaled 9 billion tonnes last year. Over the past decade, the iron ore maritime trade has witnessed the strongest average annual growth at 8%. Australia and Brazil are the leading iron ore exporters, while China, Japan and South Korea constitute the chief importing countries. China alone represents 47% of global coal consumption and 45% of global coal production. Based in Sept-Iles, the Iron Ore Company of Canada is a major supplier of iron ore nuggets and concentrates. IOC president Zoe Yujnovich told the conference that “Canadian resources are seen on world markets as being reliable and of high quality.” She underlined the importance of being “competitive on a loaded basis” in China and other markets. As bulk vessels and container ships get bigger, said Claude Comtois, geography professor at the Université de Montréal, basically they will go where there is the cargo. “There is no single model in the mega vessel.” The new generation will include Chinamax bulk vessels of over 300,000 tonnes capacity and the mammoth 18,000-TEU container ships recently ordered by Maersk Line and initially earmarked for deployment on the Asia-Europe trades. “Everywhere in the world, ports are under pressure to provide deeper access for larger ships,” Prof. Comtois said, adding that the present role of Canada in world maritime trade will not diminish as a result of developments on the Panama and Suez canals. Meanwhile, the growing world demand for commodities and a strategic location to support northern mining activity has stirred the small Port of Saguenay in the St. Lawrence River region to embark on a C$34 million, three-phase project to develop an intermodal industrial park at Grande Anse Marine Terminal. A 12.5 km rail spur will connect with the Quebec railway network. The port’s general manager, Alain Bouchard, forecasts that “the current annual tonnage of about 400,000 tonnes will multiply by 20 within 10 years.”