Logistec Corporation, one of the crown jewels of Canada’s marine industry, has embarked on a new chapter in its 70-year history following its acquisition in January by NY-based Blue Wolf Capital Partners for approximately C$1.2 billion.
Amidst low global economic growth and trade trends plus service adjustments by ocean carriers, Canadian ports on the east coast are increasingly competing against each other for container business.
Following a period up till three years ago as arguably the fastest-growing container port in North America, the Port of Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia is pursuing a comprehensive strategy to broaden its cargo base by developing big new transloading infrastructure and energy export facilities.
Following a decline in container cargo last year, 2024 is showing signs of an uptick at Canada’s largest port while latest available 2023 figures for total traffic to mid-June point to continuing robust shipments of bulk commodities led by grain.
Potential waterfront labor stoppages at Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Montreal are once more on the radar screen. Federal mediators have been brought in to help avert a repeat of the strike actions by unionized dockers against maritime employers at Canada’s three biggest container ports that severely hit supply chains in the past few years.
A leading Canadian marine and environmental services provider with a substantial North American commercial profile, Montreal-based LOGISTEC Corporation remains on a robust growth trajectory, its latest financial results to end-September confirm.
DP World has expanded rapidly in Canada and now boasts the largest container terminal operation in the country.
The long-anticipated initiative late last week drew rapid approval from labour union circles but sharp criticism from industry groups ranging from small business to manufacturers and grain exporters.
Some 361 workers in Ontario and Quebec began a strike on Sunday at 00.01 am after negotiations failed to meet a union-imposed deadline with Canada’s St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC). The first such work stoppage since 1968 on the bi-national waterway and important supply chain corridor stirred a big cry of alarm not only from Canadian marine industry and business circles but also from U.S. Great Lakes ports urging Canada’s federal government to intervene.
The St. Lawrence Seaway, the maritime trade corridor connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the industrial heartlands of Canada and the United States, could be closed to all traffic as of 00.01 hours on Sunday should the 361 Canadian unionized workers carry through their threatened strike action.
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