32 INJUNEOF this year, the federal government committed close to $14 million to an export expansion project at the Port of Oshawa. The recipient, the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority, will contribute $16 million to the project, bringing the total investment to nearly $30 million. The funds awarded through the National Trade Corridors Fund will be used to build new infrastructure to modernize the operation, positioning it for considerable growth. This is good news for producers, particularly those who live in counties east of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), as they will no longer have to cart grain across North America's busiest highway, the 401. The upgrade means they will be able to deliver quickly and efficiently closer to home. Currently, producers have limited access in terms of port facilities. They can travel east and deliver to the Port of Johnstown on the St. Lawrence Seaway system or drive across the GTHA to Hamilton, where there are three export terminals and an oilseed crush facility. "That's not an ideal situation for any number of stakeholders," says Larissa Fenn, director of public affairs, Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA). "For producers themselves, Port of Oshawa expansion IMPROVING GRAIN EXPORT CAPACITY Melanie Epp PORT OF OSHAWA. PHOTO COURTESY OF HAMILTON-OSHAWA PORT AUTHORITY. it's a long trip, it takes a long time, and it reduces the number of trips you can make in a day. And, obviously, the truck traffic affects the travelling public in the Greater Toronto area." While the Port of Oshawa has some grain storage and export capacity, efficiency and speed have been issues for producers using the port, explains Fenn. As it stands now, the port has storage capacity for 10,000 MT, which means a great deal of direct loading that is subject to stoppage due to inclement weather. The upgrade will double that capacity to 20,000 MT. INCREASING EFFICIENCY AND CAPACITY More importantly, the upgrade will greatly improve the port's efficiency and capacity. Once completed, the Port of Oshawa will have access and egress via a full internal ring road, and trucks will be able to get in, unload, and exit the port safely and efficiently. "Storage capacity is one part of the equation, but really unloading and then the internal ring road to improve the fluidity of truck traffic within the port is just as much of an improvement," says Fenn. "I think grain farmers who have been in the port before will recognize that part of the challenge with that facility was the getting in and out." The upgrade will equip the port with new unloading pits that should increase the unloading speed of a truck. Currently, they use an extensive hopper and conveyor system to fill an entire vessel. The system is finicky, as both the conveyor system and the vessel need to be moved back and forth to create a balanced load. "In some cases in the past, the vessels have had to leave with less than a full load because of the time it took to load at the Port of Oshawa," says Fenn. Market Development
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