CORNWALL, ONTARIO, CANADA — The St. Lawrence Seaway’s first tonnage report of the 2025 navigation season showed a year over year increase in overall traffic with grain and potash shipments having a particularly strong start to the year.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. (SLSMC) said that nearly 1.6 million tonnes of grain had moved by the end of April, a year over year increase of 22%, and 155,000 tonnes of potash transited the seaway, up 43%. Those numbers helped total traffic reach 4.5 million tonnes, up 3.7%, offsetting a slower start for other commodities such as coal and iron ore.

The SLSMC described the movement of goods supporting North American trade as stable amid ongoing economic uncertainties.

“We’re seeing steady performance, which is encouraging given today’s economic climate,” said Jim Athanasiou, president and chief executive officer of the SLSMC, a nonprofit that manages and operates the Canadian assets of the Seaway. “With tariffs and other pressures still unfolding, it’s too early to know the full extent of what lies ahead, but the results to date suggest that the Seaway corridor continues to do its job, reliably and efficiently.”

The Port of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, a member of the Chamber of Marine Commerce, provides access to European markets for Western Canadian grain producers through its facilities on Lake Superior at the western end of the Seaway. 

The port has invested in modernized cargo handling assets, and focused on management of heavy, oversized, and project cargo over the past two decades. The port has regularly handled over 7.2 million tonnes of grain annually since 2014.

Canadian wheat production is forecast to increase by 2% in marketing year 2025-26 as planted area is projected to increase by 2.6% year on year, according to a Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture report. Total wheat production is forecast at 35.6 million tonnes. 

Canada, the third largest wheat exporter in 2023-24, behind Russia and the European Union, is projected to increase shipments by 2% over last year’s record of 26 million tonnes, the FAS said.