We continue on with catching up on the events of early August, from the August 13 edition of the Daily News a look at the front page story about the evolving plans of Canpotex for a potash terminal at Ridley Island.
POTASH FIRM’BULLISH’ ON RUPERT PORT PROSPECTS
Harsh day on the TSX doesn’t take bloom off Canpotex project
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Page one
Even after a difficult Monday on the commodities heavy Toronto Stock Exchange (S&P/TSX) where natural resource prices dropped, potash is a good sell in Asia, which is good news for Prince Rupert.
The fertilizer is being thrown on ships in record numbers. And for Prince Rupert that could mean good returns once Canpotex’s potash terminal on Ridley Island opens.
“What we are seeing is a ramp up of potash exports access and Canpotex’s decision to open up a terminal reflects that,” said Shaun Stevenson, vice president of Marketing and Business Development for the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA). “Right now Canpotex has a bullish outlook on Prince Rupert.”
Stevenson said he expected the potash terminal to take three years to build but he expected it to create at least 200-300 jobs with construction projects and then 80-100 jobs when the terminal is up and running.
Numbers released by the Port Metro Vancouver, shows that potash exports sailing out of Vancouver increased by 10 per cent in the first half of 2008 than it did in the first half of 2007. Most of those shipments are off to China where potash is in great demand.
Global demand for potash boosted the port’s shipments to 3.4 million tones in the first six months of 2008 up from 3.1 million tones in the first six months in 2007.
“These statistics reflect, and the economic depth and diversity they echo, demonstrate the vital role that Canada’s largest port plays in the country’s economic well-being,” said Gordon Houston, president and CEO for Port Metro Vancouver.
However, due to a drop in natural resource prices, Saskatchewan potash supplier, Potash Corp. (TSX:POT) announced a major decline in stock value Monday, losing more than $11 in value, dropping stock value to $171.55.
The company is one of three owners of Canpotex, an international marketing and distribution company for potash.
Showing posts with label Canpotex set to build terminal in Prince Rupert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canpotex set to build terminal in Prince Rupert. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
It takes a team to bring in the potash crop for Rupert
They are spreading around the credit this weekend as Prince Rupert celebrates its winning of the Potash derby, with Canpotex selecting Ridley Island as one of their two key locations in British Columbia for shipping potash to Asia.
The 300 million dollar terminal for Prince Rupert came about because of the "teamwork" exhibited by First Nations and Canadian National, that according to Dale MacLean who praised their assistance in landing the multi million dollar deal last week.
The Daily News featured the story as their front page article in Friday's paper.
'RIDLEY'S $300M TERMINAL WON THANKS TO TEAM WORK
Chair of port board praises First Nations and CN Rail for being supportive of project
BY LEANNE RITCHIE
The Daily News
Friday, June 27, 2008
Pages one and two
The ability to place a competitive bid before Canpotex for a new potash terminal was only possible with the help of the Coast Tsimshian and neighbouring First Nations, said the chair of the board of the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA.)
Speaking at the PRPA Annual General Meeting yesterday, Dale MacLean said the announcement by Canpotex to site one of two new terminals on a 100-acre site on Ridley Island came after nine months of hard work.
This included visits by the Coast Tsimshian (Metlakatla and Lax Kw'alaams) as well as Gitxaala, Kitselas and Kitsumkalum to Canpotex's Saskatchewan operations
"When you look at the people that were involved, the organization and the partners, it's only appropriate to express thanks and appreciation to CN Rail and the Coast Tsimshian who collectively went with the PRPA as a unified team, presented a strategy and a competitive framework to Canpotex that surely demonstrated the viability of Prince Rupert and the advantages that this truly has to offer and can bring to Canadian exporters," said MacLean.
"When you see that kind of community come together, it only speaks to one thing, that's strength, it talks about commitment and it sets the stage for future growth."
The PRPA and CN still have to finalize commercial agreements with Canpotex; however the board of Canpotex has ended the site selection process, confirming its decision to go with Ridley Island and a site next to the existing Neptune Terminals in North Vancouver. The PRPA was competing with other ports for the new site, including Cherry Point, Washington.
Canpotex, which acts as the export agency for three potash producers including Agrium, Inc., Mosaic Co. and the Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, is looking to double its export capacity from 12 million to 23 million tonnes annually by 2012. Prices for the key ingredient in fertilizer has tripled in the past year as worldwide demand for potash has grown.
The new capacity will be split roughly 50/50 between Vancouver and Prince Rupert, with the Ridley terminal representing about a $300 million investment. Canpotex chose Prince Rupert largely for its direct connection to customers - it's a shorter ocean trip to Asia than from more southerly ports. And it's also a speedy link by train with potash producers in Saskatchewan.
And the relationship built between the Coast Tsimshian and the company did play an important role in the decision, said Jon Somers, vice president of planning and development for Canpotex.
"We'd like to say in a very positive way that we at Canpotex reciprocated with a visit probably a month and a half ago to Prince Rupert, meeting with the chiefs of the five bands - Lax Kw'alaams and Metlakatla as well as Kitselas, Kitsumkalum and Gitxaala," said Somers.
"We are very pleased to say we have made substantial progress and commitment to recognizing our potential engagements with their communities and their culture and vice versa to their supporting our project."
The timeline to develop the new terminal extends through the next three years, which gives all parties involved time to determine the exact nature of economic development opportunities related to the project.
Although the engineering and technical work is still being completed, Somers said the plan is to develop what he called "a traditional style terminal."
"You will have a rail track that leads on to the island as part of the existing CN service and then you'll have a storage shed. Potash has to be stored in doors, unlike the coal pile at Ridley. You will have a dumper pit where cars will dump the product and then a long conveyor system running to a berth in the water, running adjacent to the coal terminal," he said.
Similar again to the coal terminal, there will be large ocean-going vessels coming in and loading up to a capacity of 180,000 tonnes in the future and then turning around and heading off to Asia.
Canpotex leases its own fleet of 5,500 specially designed covered potash railcars.
"We have a preliminary engineering study that has been done and running concurrently with our negotiations most likely we will be doing further detailed engineering, assessing the land from a geotechnical perspective ... making sure the land is suitable to build on, which we believe it is."
At this point in time, Canpotex is unsure just how many jobs will be involved in terminal operations; however they estimate about 250 construction jobs will be generated during peak periods.
"Moving forward, it's a bit difficult to say at this point about employment because we haven't determined how the facility will be run ... suffice to say it will be a traditional bulk terminal manning model," said Somers.
However, the hard work ahead on reaching commercial agreements and forging new elationships did not put a dampener on the spirits at yesterdays AGM. For MacLean, a potash terminal is another way to develop and stabilize the future of the PRPA and the communities.
"It's another critical building block that will add to the diversity of the port," he said.
The 300 million dollar terminal for Prince Rupert came about because of the "teamwork" exhibited by First Nations and Canadian National, that according to Dale MacLean who praised their assistance in landing the multi million dollar deal last week.
The Daily News featured the story as their front page article in Friday's paper.
'RIDLEY'S $300M TERMINAL WON THANKS TO TEAM WORK
Chair of port board praises First Nations and CN Rail for being supportive of project
BY LEANNE RITCHIE
The Daily News
Friday, June 27, 2008
Pages one and two
The ability to place a competitive bid before Canpotex for a new potash terminal was only possible with the help of the Coast Tsimshian and neighbouring First Nations, said the chair of the board of the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA.)
Speaking at the PRPA Annual General Meeting yesterday, Dale MacLean said the announcement by Canpotex to site one of two new terminals on a 100-acre site on Ridley Island came after nine months of hard work.
This included visits by the Coast Tsimshian (Metlakatla and Lax Kw'alaams) as well as Gitxaala, Kitselas and Kitsumkalum to Canpotex's Saskatchewan operations
"When you look at the people that were involved, the organization and the partners, it's only appropriate to express thanks and appreciation to CN Rail and the Coast Tsimshian who collectively went with the PRPA as a unified team, presented a strategy and a competitive framework to Canpotex that surely demonstrated the viability of Prince Rupert and the advantages that this truly has to offer and can bring to Canadian exporters," said MacLean.
"When you see that kind of community come together, it only speaks to one thing, that's strength, it talks about commitment and it sets the stage for future growth."
The PRPA and CN still have to finalize commercial agreements with Canpotex; however the board of Canpotex has ended the site selection process, confirming its decision to go with Ridley Island and a site next to the existing Neptune Terminals in North Vancouver. The PRPA was competing with other ports for the new site, including Cherry Point, Washington.
Canpotex, which acts as the export agency for three potash producers including Agrium, Inc., Mosaic Co. and the Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, is looking to double its export capacity from 12 million to 23 million tonnes annually by 2012. Prices for the key ingredient in fertilizer has tripled in the past year as worldwide demand for potash has grown.
The new capacity will be split roughly 50/50 between Vancouver and Prince Rupert, with the Ridley terminal representing about a $300 million investment. Canpotex chose Prince Rupert largely for its direct connection to customers - it's a shorter ocean trip to Asia than from more southerly ports. And it's also a speedy link by train with potash producers in Saskatchewan.
And the relationship built between the Coast Tsimshian and the company did play an important role in the decision, said Jon Somers, vice president of planning and development for Canpotex.
"We'd like to say in a very positive way that we at Canpotex reciprocated with a visit probably a month and a half ago to Prince Rupert, meeting with the chiefs of the five bands - Lax Kw'alaams and Metlakatla as well as Kitselas, Kitsumkalum and Gitxaala," said Somers.
"We are very pleased to say we have made substantial progress and commitment to recognizing our potential engagements with their communities and their culture and vice versa to their supporting our project."
The timeline to develop the new terminal extends through the next three years, which gives all parties involved time to determine the exact nature of economic development opportunities related to the project.
Although the engineering and technical work is still being completed, Somers said the plan is to develop what he called "a traditional style terminal."
"You will have a rail track that leads on to the island as part of the existing CN service and then you'll have a storage shed. Potash has to be stored in doors, unlike the coal pile at Ridley. You will have a dumper pit where cars will dump the product and then a long conveyor system running to a berth in the water, running adjacent to the coal terminal," he said.
Similar again to the coal terminal, there will be large ocean-going vessels coming in and loading up to a capacity of 180,000 tonnes in the future and then turning around and heading off to Asia.
Canpotex leases its own fleet of 5,500 specially designed covered potash railcars.
"We have a preliminary engineering study that has been done and running concurrently with our negotiations most likely we will be doing further detailed engineering, assessing the land from a geotechnical perspective ... making sure the land is suitable to build on, which we believe it is."
At this point in time, Canpotex is unsure just how many jobs will be involved in terminal operations; however they estimate about 250 construction jobs will be generated during peak periods.
"Moving forward, it's a bit difficult to say at this point about employment because we haven't determined how the facility will be run ... suffice to say it will be a traditional bulk terminal manning model," said Somers.
However, the hard work ahead on reaching commercial agreements and forging new elationships did not put a dampener on the spirits at yesterdays AGM. For MacLean, a potash terminal is another way to develop and stabilize the future of the PRPA and the communities.
"It's another critical building block that will add to the diversity of the port," he said.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Solidfiying the Gateway message
"There's not euphoria but there is a growing confidence that wealth and prosperity are returning to the community."-- Mayor Herb Pond reacting to the news of an addition to the industrial base at Ridley Terminals.
They're getting ready to say some pretty nice things about us in the Thursday Globe and Mail, as word spreads about Canpotex's decision to ship potash out of Ridley Island.
In a story posted to their website on Wednesday night, the Globe examined Canpotex's plans for development and the positive vibes it is generating around the city.
Highlighting, the ports accessibility to both China and the Canadian prairies, the article provides a pretty solid bit of evidence that the growth for the Port is still in its formative years, as the advantage of shipping through a relatively unclogged port here is attracting attention.
Potash boom lifts Prince Rupert port
DAVID EBNER
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
June 26, 2008 at 12:09 AM EDT
VANCOUVER — The potash boom touched down in Prince Rupert, B.C., Wednesday as Canpotex Ltd. said it would build a new export terminal to boost Asian shipments of the high-demand fertilizer as part of a $500-million expansion plan.
To nearly double its export capacity to 23 million tonnes a year from 12 million, Canpotex, which markets potash internationally for Saskatchewan producers, also plans to expand a Vancouver facility.
The win for Prince Rupert over a rival site in Cherry Point, Wash., is the latest and most visible sign of how the northwestern British Columbia port town is riding global demand for commodities.
Long battered by the declines of British Columbia's forestry and fishing industries, Prince Rupert has more recently been buoyed by increased bulk exports of coal and grain, the main products moving through the port.
About half of Canpotex's added capacity will be at the new terminal in Prince Rupert, which is expected to cost roughly $300-million.
Canpotex chose Prince Rupert largely for its direct connection to customers – it's a shorter ocean trip to Asia than from more southern ports.
And it's also a speedy link with potash producers in Saskatchewan.
“It's a gateway, a straight shot from Saskatchewan to Prince Rupert right to the heart of Asia,” said Jon Somers, vice-president of planning and development at Canpotex.
Prince Rupert is also far less congested, handling just an eighth of the annual tonnage that moves through Vancouver, and the rail links to the northern port are also less busy.
The price of potash, a key ingredient for fertilizer, has tripled in the past year and stock of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the biggest domestic producer, has also almost tripled. Now the second most valuable company on the Toronto Stock Exchange, it is adding several million tonnes of production capacity.
Potash Corp. is one of the Canpotex's three co-owners, along with Agrium Inc. and Mosaic Co.
The other half of the new Canpotex capacity will be added in North Vancouver at Neptune Bulk Terminals (Canada) Ltd. where Canpotex has most of its existing capacity.
A container cargo terminal was also added in Prince Rupert last year. Completed for $170-million, it can handle 500,000 containers a year and is getting busier after a slow opening. A $650-million plan to quadruple the capacity is being studied.
Potash is adding further diversification to a city that has seen its population slide more than 20 per cent to 13,000 from 17,000 a decade ago.
“It's extremely significant for us,” said Don Krusel, chief executive officer of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, where potash could increase total bulk exports by 50 per cent.
“Prince Rupert is the gateway between North America and Asia for international trade. This just solidifies that message.”
Another winner in Canpotex's selection of Prince Rupert is Canadian National Railway Co., which serves the port. James Foote, a CN executive vice-president, said the decision demonstrates that CN's bulk transport business is strong.
In Prince Rupert, the city sees itself as one piece in a long string, according to Mayor Herb Pond. The port can be even more successful when containers that enter North America full also depart full on the backhaul portion of the route to Prince Rupert with products for export, he said.
“We suffered from a really bad decade. This is a significant step forward for Prince Rupert.
There's not euphoria but there is a growing confidence that wealth and prosperity are returning to the community. Our goal is to be a one-stop-shop port for all kinds of commodities.”
They're getting ready to say some pretty nice things about us in the Thursday Globe and Mail, as word spreads about Canpotex's decision to ship potash out of Ridley Island.
In a story posted to their website on Wednesday night, the Globe examined Canpotex's plans for development and the positive vibes it is generating around the city.
Highlighting, the ports accessibility to both China and the Canadian prairies, the article provides a pretty solid bit of evidence that the growth for the Port is still in its formative years, as the advantage of shipping through a relatively unclogged port here is attracting attention.
Potash boom lifts Prince Rupert port
DAVID EBNER
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
June 26, 2008 at 12:09 AM EDT
VANCOUVER — The potash boom touched down in Prince Rupert, B.C., Wednesday as Canpotex Ltd. said it would build a new export terminal to boost Asian shipments of the high-demand fertilizer as part of a $500-million expansion plan.
To nearly double its export capacity to 23 million tonnes a year from 12 million, Canpotex, which markets potash internationally for Saskatchewan producers, also plans to expand a Vancouver facility.
The win for Prince Rupert over a rival site in Cherry Point, Wash., is the latest and most visible sign of how the northwestern British Columbia port town is riding global demand for commodities.
Long battered by the declines of British Columbia's forestry and fishing industries, Prince Rupert has more recently been buoyed by increased bulk exports of coal and grain, the main products moving through the port.
About half of Canpotex's added capacity will be at the new terminal in Prince Rupert, which is expected to cost roughly $300-million.
Canpotex chose Prince Rupert largely for its direct connection to customers – it's a shorter ocean trip to Asia than from more southern ports.
And it's also a speedy link with potash producers in Saskatchewan.
“It's a gateway, a straight shot from Saskatchewan to Prince Rupert right to the heart of Asia,” said Jon Somers, vice-president of planning and development at Canpotex.
Prince Rupert is also far less congested, handling just an eighth of the annual tonnage that moves through Vancouver, and the rail links to the northern port are also less busy.
The price of potash, a key ingredient for fertilizer, has tripled in the past year and stock of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the biggest domestic producer, has also almost tripled. Now the second most valuable company on the Toronto Stock Exchange, it is adding several million tonnes of production capacity.
Potash Corp. is one of the Canpotex's three co-owners, along with Agrium Inc. and Mosaic Co.
The other half of the new Canpotex capacity will be added in North Vancouver at Neptune Bulk Terminals (Canada) Ltd. where Canpotex has most of its existing capacity.
A container cargo terminal was also added in Prince Rupert last year. Completed for $170-million, it can handle 500,000 containers a year and is getting busier after a slow opening. A $650-million plan to quadruple the capacity is being studied.
Potash is adding further diversification to a city that has seen its population slide more than 20 per cent to 13,000 from 17,000 a decade ago.
“It's extremely significant for us,” said Don Krusel, chief executive officer of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, where potash could increase total bulk exports by 50 per cent.
“Prince Rupert is the gateway between North America and Asia for international trade. This just solidifies that message.”
Another winner in Canpotex's selection of Prince Rupert is Canadian National Railway Co., which serves the port. James Foote, a CN executive vice-president, said the decision demonstrates that CN's bulk transport business is strong.
In Prince Rupert, the city sees itself as one piece in a long string, according to Mayor Herb Pond. The port can be even more successful when containers that enter North America full also depart full on the backhaul portion of the route to Prince Rupert with products for export, he said.
“We suffered from a really bad decade. This is a significant step forward for Prince Rupert.
There's not euphoria but there is a growing confidence that wealth and prosperity are returning to the community. Our goal is to be a one-stop-shop port for all kinds of commodities.”
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