Holy crap, were these guys even at the same meeting?
Nutrien ships the bulk of its potash exports — as much as 11 million tonnes per year — out of the Neptune Terminals in the Port of Vancouver. The company will continue to ship a majority of its product out of Vancouver. And while the Vancouver location was considered for the new terminal, it appears to have lost out. Canpotex, co-owned by Nutrien, ships roughly three million tonnes of potash through Portland, Oregon annually.
Nutrien has stated that current transportation options in Canada are not addressing the company’s needs, and that rail infrastructure bottlenecks in Metro Vancouver and labour disputes in Canada are disrupting its business. Nutrien said it’s trying to minimize
supply chaindisruptions to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
In May, Nutrien chief executive Ken Seitz said executives were considering both Canadian and American ports for the terminal. He said
timelines and Canadian Government regulations would be deciding factors.
Roughly a month earlier,
Prime Minister Mark Carney said a priority for the country was speeding up regulatory processes for major projects. Then in June, the government made the idea law with the introduction of Bill C-5, the “One Canadian Economy Act,” introducing legislation intended to speed up “nation-building” projects and remove interprovincial trade barriers. The government chose the winners and losers for its own agenda.
Saskatchewan-based
Nutrien Ltd., the world’s largest
potash producer, confirmed that it’s looking to build a new export facility in Washington state — not Vancouver.
Nutrien has set plans in motion to build a $1-billion export terminal at Washington’s Port of Longview at a time when the federal government is pushing for built-in-Canada infrastructure projects.
Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon has expressed disappointment in Nutrien’s decision, saying he’s trying to convince the company to reverse it. But Joel Bruneau, department head of economics at the University of Saskatchewan, said if transportation bottlenecks in Canada are impeding the free flow of Nutrien’s product, it has every right to seek alternatives.
“Carney wants, and we all want, more investment in Canada,” Bruneau said. “But if there’s bottlenecks in that railway, and Nutrien is saying those bottlenecks are problematic, then surely we should get rid of the bottlenecks in our transportation system. Surely we need another port in the country that we can offer to a company like Nutrien, one with excess capacity.”
Nutrien said it needs a new export terminal to meet growing demand for Saskatchewan potash. The company views the Washington site as a more efficient route to potash markets in
China, Japan and India, but said it has “open lines of communication” with the Canadian government.
Pending a final investment decision, the company expects to finalize plans for the Longview terminal in 2027, and complete construction by 2031.
Vaughn Palmer: Nutrien Ltd. says Longview, Washington, makes more sense than B.C. ports for a host of cost reasons
vancouversun.com
Saskatchewan-based Nutrien Ltd. confirmed that it's looking to build a new export facility in Washington state — not Vancouver. Read more.
thestarphoenix.com
I guess Nutrien doesn’t have 20 years to wait for regulatory approval, & then to have the project cancelled most of the through the process. Oh well…“I was really disappointed,” the current BC premier told reporters when asked about Nutrien’s decision to go with Longview, Washington, on the Columbia River over Prince Rupert or Vancouver. B.C. Premier David Eby says a recent decision by a Saskatchewan company doesn’t make sense.
The BC premier said the whole country would benefit from the investing in
a pipeline port expansion on the West Coast to ship a landlocked commodity from one of the Prairie provinces. The premier first cited a concern about Nutrien’s decision last week.
Eby was responding to the news that Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe had been in discussions with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith about an oil pipeline through B.C.
“I almost fell out of my seat when I heard Scott Moe say that he was part of these conversations — which I was completely unaware of — about what happens in B.C.,” Eby told the CBC’s David Cochrane, Thursday.
“I was especially surprised because there’s a lot we should be doing with Saskatchewan,” the premier continued, noting the news about the potash terminal, which had broken the day before. A final investment decision is expected in 2027.
B.C. Premier David Eby said on Monday that he questions this decision as it would put a Canadian product at the mercy of the U.S. administration.
globalnews.ca