Port of Churchill gives more access to international markets

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As reliable Canadian access to the United States continues to be uncertain, one group is continuing its efforts to give the country’s shippers more options for selling their goods.

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Arctic Gateway Group LP, which owns and operates the Port of Churchill in northern Manitoba, said it plans to double the amount of critical minerals, specifically zinc concentrate, that will be shipped out of the port. It also announced plans to triple the port’s critical mineral storage capacity.

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Chris Avery, chief executive of Arctic Gateway Group, said the plan represents the first major infrastructure investment at the facility in decades.

He said the port’s partnership with Hudbay Minerals Inc., which operates a zinc and copper mine in Manitoba, has allowed for growth and more work needs to be done to allow services to be provided to other potential customers. For example, the port’s wharf base and deck need to be repaired.

“We have to have the facilities to service Hudbay, but we also have (to have) the facilities to serve other new customers,” he said. “We’re talking to a number of mining companies that are currently online and then also mining companies and other production companies that are potentially coming online in the next two or three years.”

The first shipment of critical minerals left the port last summer, which was the first shipment in 20 years, bound for overseas markets.

Avery said the current uncertainty created by the trade policies of the Donald Trump administration has led more companies to reach out to Arctic Gateway Group. He said the port and the railway that feeds into Churchill are trade-enabling infrastructure that have the ability to provide the country with another potential option.

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“That provides us greater and more direct access to international markets and then it also provides supply chain options for Canada,” he said. “All those things are so much more important now after the recent events with conversations about tariffs and the 51st state and so on.”

Besides mining companies, Avery said the port has also been engaging with smaller agricultural companies and is also trying to drum up business to help resupply communities in Canada’s North. He said the company has been talking with potential clients in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

He said the need to develop more infrastructure to get more Canadian goods to global markets has been a topic of discussion at the port ownership group for many years and predates the current U.S. administration.

The Saskatchewan government is also interested in expanding access to other markets as well.

“The Ministry of Highways appreciates infrastructure initiatives such as the recent efforts related to the Port of Churchill, which can potentially offer more options for Saskatchewan to export to diverse markets,” the government said in a statement. 

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The government added that the ministry will continue to make investments in the province’s highway network to improve trade and support exporters.

The province’s Ministry of Energy and Resources said the port provides another option for getting critical minerals mined in Saskatchewan to market.

“Through Saskatchewan’s Critical Minerals Strategy, we are focused on bringing investment to the province and driving the diversification and growth of the critical minerals sector,” its statement said. 

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