Ports of Rotterdam and Baie-Comeau enter into collaboration agreement

The Netherlands port of Rotterdam, the world’s 10th largest port and the largest port in Europe, has announced signing an agreement with the Canadian port of Baie-Comeau to study the prospect of the future growth and development of the Baie-Comeau Port, including the cargo flows, technical port infrastructure, as well as environmentally-friendly power sources in industrial zones. The ports will be working in close cooperation with the City of Baie-Comeau, Government of Canada, Government of Quebec, the Pessamit First Nation Community and others.

According to the information posted on the website of the Rotterdam port, the Société du Plan Nord is supporting this development plan by investing CAN$250,000. The amount comes from the Opportunity envelope of the Government of Quebec’s 2020-2023 Northern Action Plan.

The port of Rotterdam is a globally operating deep water seaport, with the capacity to handle the largest ships in the world, serving 30,000 sea vessels per year. It stretches some 40-45 km inland and has both the port and industrial zone under its care, with over 3,000 private companies involved in handling all types of cargo, including general, liquid bulk, dry bulk and break-bulk cargoes.

The Canadian east-coast non-freezing deep-water port of Baie-Comeau, which recently changed ownership from Transport Canada to the Baie-Comeau Port Management Corporation, is situated in the Province of Québec, on the North Shore of the Saint Lawrence River, near the mouth of the Manicouagan River in the Baie des Anglais. It now has a large Cargill cereals terminal (the largest storage capacity for cereals in Canada) and an Alcoa aluminium smelter, powered for 99% with electricity from green sources. The port provides logistic services for the mining and the manufacturing industry of North-East Quebec and is connected to the national railroad network leading to the American Midwest area and all major inland markets.