Shippers get behind Laurentia port development

QUÉBEC – More than one hundred companies have given their support to the development of Laurentia, the Port of Québec’s deep-water container terminal project.

The Quebec Container Terminal, operated by Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) and Canadian National (CN), will open in early 2024 and will provide shippers with access to traditional markets in Europe and the Mediterranean as well as markets in Southeast Asia.

The Laurentia Project includes a wharf with a 16-metre water depth, capacity to accommodate 13,000-TEU container ships and a direct connection to a high-performance rail transportation network that can reach one hundred million North American consumers.

The port is being developed with a joint $775 million investment by Hutchison Ports, CN, and the Port of Québec. It is expected to create 7,000 direct, indirect and spinoff jobs in Canada (equivalent to 1,750 full-time jobs a year) during its construction from 2021 to 2024, and more than 1,000 direct, indirect and spinoff jobs in Canada once activity starts.

“As a food logistics solution provider designed to meet the needs of the food and the retail industries, Congebec must be able to count on a solid, efficient and reliable logistics chain to conduct its commercial operations,” said Nicholas-P. Pedneault, president and CEO of Congebec, one of the shippers supporting the port.

“By bringing together all these factors, Laurentia proves to be a solution of choice in proximity to our company that will allow us to achieve significant economies of scale.”

“The Association québécoise de l’industrie de la pêche (AQIP) has 54 members, including 32 industrial and 22 associate members, and represents more than 90 percent of the marine product volume processed in Quebec,” said Bill Sheehan, chairman, board of directors, Association Québécoise de L’industrie de la Pêche.

“AQIP members are engaged with several international markets, particularly in Asia. Laurentia will save our businesses significant amounts of transportation time and improve the competitiveness of our businesses.”