Opinion: How the St. Lawrence Seaway will continue to become more important to the Quebec economy

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The St. Lawrence Seaway is made up of an extensive network of interconnected infrastructure. Canals, canals, port facilities, and fleets illustrate the connections between transportation equipment, industrial production, and the man-made environment.

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This valuable infrastructure represents significant capital investments that have already been amortized. The maintenance, modernization and adaptation of the fluvial-maritime network make it possible to meet the capacity, fluidity and reliability demands imposed by the transport industry.

From their position as nodes in the supply chain, the ports of St. Lawrence have become the catalysts linking trade, development and industrial innovations. The importance of the river in all aspects of Quebec’s economy is enormous and is expected to increase even more in the coming years.

I am Professor Emeritus of Geography at the Université de Montréal and Academic Advisor to the Montreal Port Authority. I have been interested in shipping issues for 30 years.

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ships and cargo

The San Lorenzo River has 20 commercial ports and 14 other port infrastructure elements (maritime terminal, wharf, fishing port). In 2021, these 34 facilities of the “St. Lawrence system” handled almost 150 million tons of cargo.

The most important ports are Montreal (34 megatons), Sept-Îles (30.7 Mt), Quebec City (28.5 Mt) and Port-Cartier (25 Mt).

Approximately 8,000 merchant ships operate annually in the St. Lawrence system, including bulk carriers, oil tankers, general cargo carriers, container ships, and cargo and unloading vessels.

The delivery of raw materials is essential. The St. Lawrence ports handle approximately 70 Mt of minerals, mainly for export. Between 25 and 32 Mt of hydrocarbons circulate through the river each year.

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The grain trade represents about 18 Mt. Prairie grains are first transported by rail to Thunder Bay and then transferred to the ports of Montreal, Quebec City, Sorel, Trois-Rivières, Baie-Comeau and Port-Cartier to via St. Lawrence Seaway for shipment to markets in Europe and Africa.

About 15 percent of exported goods are generated in Quebec’s agricultural fields, including soybean and corn farmers in the Montérégie region, who ship part of their harvest through the Port of Montreal. The St. Lawrence River-Marine System is in high demand to meet the demands of supplying and distributing containerized goods.

Montreal is the only container port on the St. Lawrence. Its estimated turnover of 15 Mt is mainly made up of manufactures, forestry products, pulp and paper, cereals and agri-food, machinery and metal products.

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Montreal’s weight in handling container traffic is expected to grow more and more.

commercial roots

Quebec’s economy depends on foreign trade. Its prosperity depends critically on its ability to succeed in international markets.

Therefore, the ports of San Lorenzo play an important role in supporting the province’s economy and trade, both import and export. They continue to grow and are expected to do so at a steady rate in the coming years.

The economic importance of the St. Lawrence system is evident on several levels.

Ships calling at St. Lawrence ports are getting larger, requiring investments in renovation and expansion of existing port infrastructure.

Furthermore, tonne-kilometres associated with seaborne trade are growing faster than tonnages, indicating that the industry is moving into ever more distant transoceanic markets.

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In fact, the St. Lawrence port system is firmly anchored in east-west trade. The economic response of the San Lorenzo system to global processes has been to consolidate trade with the European market and align itself with the economies of the Pacific Rim, particularly with China.

Another aspect is the continuation of North-South ties with African economies (especially natural resources) and the development of trade with Middle Eastern markets.

Intercontinental trade represents more than half of the maritime activity of the ports of San Lorenzo. The continental market represents approximately 15 percent. This trade involves ports along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. The ports of St. Lawrence also benefit from the economic markets of Central and South America.

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The importance of regional trade

Regional trade, that is, trade between the ports of the St. Lawrence system and those of the Great Lakes, is also significant. It accounts for a third of the total traffic of the river ports.

Traffic volume between Quebec ports and Ontario markets is relatively balanced in terms of exports and imports. Iron and coal, however, show a downward trend due to the decline of traditional industrial sectors. More than 60 percent of this traffic is made up of exports from Quebec to the Midwest of the United States. Trade with the Atlantic provinces, on the other hand, consists mainly of imports from the latter.

Also of note is moderate growth in trade with the Canadian Arctic, reflecting an interest in developing mining sites in northern areas.

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An analysis of shipping traffic within the St. Lawrence system shows considerable short sea shipping. Internal trade between Quebec ports is driven by the transfer of minerals and fuels.

The need for investment

The Ports of St. Lawrence provide reliable, efficient, and environmentally friendly logistics that link ocean freight with land carriers.

Considering the importance of the port sector to Quebec, investment is needed in continued infrastructure maintenance, replacement of existing port assets, and new maritime, land, and intermodal development projects. According to the Association of Canadian Port Authorities, these are estimated at $6 billion by 2025.

Quebec’s continued economic growth and commercial activities depend on adequate capacity at its ports. They are essential to ensure Quebec’s competitiveness in international trade and take advantage of new market opportunities.

Claude Comtois has received funding from various federal and provincial ministries, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Fonds de recherche du Québec — Nature et technologie (FRQNT), and the Réseau Quebec Maritime (RQM).

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Disclosure information is available at laconversacion.com.