The Port of Windsor reports handling 5,444,655 metric tons of cargo in 2012, an increase of 7.5 percent it credits to a “surge in construction aggregate shipments due to an increased demand from major construction projects, particularly the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway.”

Construction aggregates, including stone, sand and aggregates jumped 49 percent and accounted for nearly 42 percent of total throughput in 2012. The port’s cargo customers include CBM-St Mary’s Cement, Coco Aggregates, Essroc Italcement Group, Lafarge Canada Ltd., Miller Aggregates Southwest ( Miller Group) and Southwestern Sales Corporation Ltd. 

Dry bulk cargo fell slightly, due mainly to a decline in salt shipments following the mild winter in 2011-2012. Grain products continued their upward momentum. General cargo rose due to demand for steel and imported project cargoes such as wind turbine parts.

Lafarge Canada Inc. completed its storage capacity expansion in 2012 and is working with the port authority and Essex Regional Conservation Authority on an extensive shore line softening project along the company’s dock which will also include installation of fish habitat. 

“We have equaled or surpassed the gains seen in other ports of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway System,” said Port Authority CEO David Cree, PPM®. “We are optimistic that the port will post another strong year in 2013.”