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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
I
N THE CÔTE -NORD
region of
eastern Quebec the Port of Sept-
Îles is bringing Canada’s ore to the
world. The city of Sept-Îles, which
hosts a population of about 26,000, is
driven by the economy of the port, and
residents are reliant on the business of
the port, and tourism to the area.
The Port of Sept-Îles truly is a
gem of modern infrastructure. The
port is open year-round, and is char-
acterized by deep waters and a 10 km
wide semi-circular bay. According to
the Port Authority, the natural advan-
tages of the port allow it to be the pre-
ferred site for coal transshipment from
ship to ship.
The port is made up of 13 docks
and 8 are owned by the Port. Every
year the port handles almost 23 million
tons of merchandise, including natural
resources and petroleum products.
EXPANSION THROUGH
PARTNERSHIP
The Port of Sept-Îles is well-po-
sitioned to create growth on a local,
national, and international level. As
the core of maritime shipping between
North America, Europe and Asia, 80
per cent of the port’s merchandise is
headed to international markets.
When it comes to iron ore de-
mand internationally, the Port of Sept-
Îles is truly a game-changer. Hence, the
need to expand and improve the port’s
functionality and size. CEO of the port
Pierre Gagnon points out that “iron
ore will play a much heavier role in
bringing new growth to the Canadian
economy.”
Working with the Federal Gov-
ernment, the port is almost finished
an expansion project that will see its
capacity increased for the future. “Our
strategic advantage in iron ore is that
Canada’s ore has less contamination—
it is higher quality. We also have access
to infrastructure that offers us a good
position for trade via the port, which
gives us a competitive advantage,” Ga-
gnon continues.
The multi-user-dock expansion
has been executed with an unprec-
edented contribution of $55 million
THE PORT OF SEPT-ÎLES
