Final report - Integrated Land Management Bureau

KITIMAT
Strengths
• Ice-free, sheltered deepwater passage and
harbour 80nm from great circle shipping route
(international)
• One day closer to Asia than ports in the south.
Its Pacific Inland Coast location enables it to
compete with the southern port of Vancouver
in both rail distance and comparable service
from the Pacific to Chicago and North America
Heartland markets, an advantage not shared
by other Northwest Corridor Ports
• Deep inland location reduces land
transportation costs
• Three deep-sea marine terminals in use for
international imports and a base of operations
for a full-service tugboat operator
• All facilities privately owned and operated.
Operators not required to pay harbour dues,
berthage or wharfage to a Port Authority
• Local labour contracts in facilities; no shipping
disruptions due to national/federal port
transportation labour agreements or conflicts
• Efficient rail connection to Terrace, and US
mid-west destinations
• Private and Provincial Crown land available
• 2,863ha industrial zoned harbour/backup land
available, and total of 11,660ha suitable for
development
Opportunities
• Greatest opportunities lie with export products
– eg., LNG, aggregate
• Asian economies, especially China’s, continue
to record positive growth numbers, and Port of
Prince Rupert is well positioned to access
larger amounts of their container shipments to
North America
• Asian shippers are seeking lowest cost
alternative in current difficult economic
environment
Transportation Assessment of the Central & North Coast of BC
Weaknesses
• Historic dependence on demand for resourcebased
exports (e.g., forest products,
aluminum)
• High pilotage costs associated with need for
two pilots because of duration of trip to/from
Triple Island pilot boarding station
• US infrastructure policy puts BC ports at a
cost disadvantage -- municipal control and
financial flexibility of American west coast
ports lead to lower cost of capital and potential
for lower terminal lease rates
• Has been unable to manufacture aluminum
products because of lower costs of shipping
raw aluminum to assembly centres or markets
for manufacturing there
• No opportunities for container-related work
because there is no container facility in Kitimat
• High infrastructure investment cost required to
get a new port enterprise underway
Threats
• If Alcan modernization does not proceed,
aluminum exports would decline and many
jobs would be lost
• Worldwide economic downturn has slowed
Chinese imports of Canadian commodities in
the short term
• Competition from American west coast ports,
which have more organizational and legal
flexibility to respond to economic downturn
conditions
Chisholm Consulting 73