Export & Financial

Westshore Terminals
Westshore Terminals Coal Export

Westshore Terminals

Westshore Terminals, located just 32 kilometres from the heart of downtown Vancouver and less than half a mile from the US border, is situated on Roberts Bank in Delta, BC. Featuring two deep sea berths and operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Westshore is the largest dry bulk terminal on the west coast of North and South America, and ships steelmaking (metallurgical) and energy (thermal) coal to 20 countries worldwide.

Despite lower overall demand for metallurgical coal during last year's economic downturn, Westshore shipped record volumes of steelmaking coal to China, and significantly increased the volume of energy coal handled. Through a positive marketing effort, Westshore has continued to grow total shipments of energy coal from US mines in the Powder River Basin (Montana and Wyoming) and from several mines in Utah. Westshore finished 2009 with a total throughput of just over 20 million tonnes of coal.

Westshore Terminals Shipping

Recent Projects

Within the past year, Westshore Terminals completed the last phase of an ambitious, three-year $49 million capital upgrade project. The first phase, completed in 2007, saw the extensive addition of conveyors and ancillary equipment to Westshore's 133-acre (54-hectare) site.

The second phase, completed in 2008, involved the installation of a replacement rotary dumper capable of handling two of the new lightweight aluminum rail cars at the same time.

The final phase involved the on-site assembly and commissioning of Westshore's fourth stacker-reclaimer. With this new equipment, Westshore has the ability to maximize on-site storage, accelerate unloading of inbound coal train shipments and efficiently reclaim and shipload outgoing coal volumes.

All four stacker-reclaimers will be automated when software and equipment installation is completed in the first half of 2010. Operators are currently being trained and acclimatized to the new automatic set up, which will help Westshore realize solid cost savings through labour cost reductions and improved equipment productivity. This, combined with the installation of new conveyors and the recent upgrade to a tandem rotary railcar car dumper, has resulted in a significant increase in Westshore Terminals' total handling capacity, from 24 million tonnes per year to 29 million tonnes.

Westshore Terminals

Looking Ahead

Westshore is cautiously optimistic about demand growth for both metallurgical and thermal coal through 2010. Westshore enjoys committed and strong long-term supplier relationships with major coal mines in Western Canada – such as Teck Coal, Coal Valley Resources and Grande Cache, as well as new multi-year shipping contracts with several US shippers. Supported by dedicated rail service in place with Canadian Pacific, Canadian National and Burlington Northern Railways, Westshore is well-positioned to participate as the global economic recovery takes place, and the requirements for coal of steel-making firms around the world increases with steel demand.