The structural failure at Canpotex Ltd.’s potash shipping terminal in Portland, Ore., (GM May 5, p. 13) will take months to resolve as engineers assess the breakdown and the firm looks for alternative ports, according to Nutrien Ltd. CEO Ken Seitz in comments on May 17 at the BMO Global Farm and Market Conference in New York City.
“Certainly it’s not measured in days, it’s measured in months,” he said, noting that there are multiple options, including Canada’s East Coast and the US Gulf, to get volumes to the more than 40 countries worldwide that rely on the shipments.
“Canpotex has been sending over 200 car unit trains to the Port of St. John for years now,” Seitz said. “It is nothing new,” explaining that due to freight rates “at times it has certainly made sense to go off the East Coast of Canada and down to the East Coast of Latin America.” He said the company has alternatives at the Gulf Coast as well. “I think that’s one of the strengths of our supply chain is that when these things happen, when we have these challenges, we have options, we have alternatives to get to the market.”
Canpotex on May 3 reported a conveyor failure at the company’s 4 million mt/y Portland Bulk Terminal, located in the port of Portland. The company said there were no injuries or environmental impacts resulting from the incident. All potash loading at the terminal was curtailed until the conveyor can be repaired. At the time, the company said it expected the impact to shipping volumes to be largely mitigated by redirecting product to other ports in North America.