Schnitzer Completes Trial Bulk Shipment at Canadian Port

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc., Portland, Ore., has completed a trial shipment of ferrous scrap in a bulk vessel from the Port of Nanaimo in British Columbia, Canada. While the steel company says it has not yet decided whether to pursue further efforts to use the port to load vessels, the port’s managers are reportedly hopeful that some of the benefits the port can offer will result in more scrap metal shipments by Schnitzer. Under the test run, the scrap metal firm had moved ferrous scrap from four barges to the hold of a vessel at the port.

The test shipment included one load of 15,000 tons, but Doug Peterson, manager of marketing and sales for the Nanaimo Port Authority, says if the company commits to Nanaimo, as many as 16 vessels could be loaded in a year, sharply increasing the amount of business for the authority. The port adds that by attracting a new type of material to its mix, the port would be able to diversify the types of businesses it services.

“From all indications the test went very well,” says Peterson of the trial run, which took place at Nanaimo’s Assembly Wharf ‘C’ Berth. The loading job was completed March 20, 2013.

To ensure the unloading and loading process went as smoothly as possible, the Nanaimo Port Authority says it contracted an engineering firm to record location, time and activity readings of noise levels prior and during operations.