Port Windsor seeing increased grain and salt shipments

An undated photo of a ship being loaded with rock-salt at Windsor Port Authority at 200 Morton Dr. in west-Windsor. (Photo courtesy of www.portwindsor.com)

The president of Port Windsor says they’re seeing ‘terrific volumes’ of grain and salt shipments moving through the port’s facilities this fall.

President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Salmons said after a relatively ‘average to good summer,’ they’re seeing a lot of grain shipments.

“That means farmers from here to London and Sarnia are selling their crops in a world market that’s a little precarious; we’re doing okay here in Ontario,” he said.

Salmons said after a couple of soft winters, Windsor Salt held back a bit.

“Now there’s a rush to get salt out. We’re now dealing with two ships a week coming out of Port Windsor, and we’re expecting to see that right through to Christmas,” he said.

As summer winds down and road construction season comes to an end, they are seeing a slowdown in aggregates, asphalt, and concrete.

Salmons also lists a slowdown in the new home construction market as a factor in the slowdown in aggregates.

“We are kind of the canary because we don’t see the aggregate moving, we don’t see the asphalt moving, and we don’t see the concrete moving, so we know something is softening in the economy,” he said.

Salmons expects an ‘average year’ by the end of the Great Lakes shipping season, but hopes that over the winter there is some resolution to some of the trade issues Canada has with the U.S. and China to stabilize the markets ahead of a good 2026.

- Written by Rusty Thomson/AM800 News.