Local black carbon plants exporting overseas again

By Medicine Hat News on November 23, 2024.

Medicine Hat News

Local manufacturer Cancarb is pleased that exports are moving again at the nation’s ocean ports after labour disruption earlier this month, but says Canada’s export-based industries could face reputational risk with overseas customers.

President Peter Donnelly told the News that the local plant ships about two-thirds of its production of carbon black overseas.

Container shipments to Asia were at a standstill before federal government ordered dockworkers back to work last week after they were locked out by the port operators during contract talks.

“It is extremely frustrating for Cancarb as our customers are increasingly seeing us as an unreliable supplier as we cannot get our carbon black to them,” he said. “As an export-dependent company, we are frequently dealing with logistical challenges such as shipping schedules, container availability and weather.”

It is also the second-straight year that west coast shipping has been disrupted by a labour dispute. A strike in Vancouver in 2023 took 13 days to resolve.

Fertilizer Canada, representing nitrogen and potash producers in Canada, estimate that the strike cost its members about $10 million per day in lost sales revenue.

Unions representing workers at the ports of Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax have said they plan to challenge the back to work order in court.