Canada: McInnis's transport network progresses

McInnis Cement is actively developing its distribution network that will support the delivery of cement to its customers. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin this spring.

"As the work continues with the intensity required to start our plant operations on time, our team is working extremely hard to complete the final pieces of the puzzle for both logistics and distribution," said McInnis Cement CEO, Herve Mallet.  "We are pleased to see that everything is in place to distribute our cement to our customers in the coming weeks."
 
In late February, construction of the Oshawa, Ontario terminal began and continues with the start of operations for this facility scheduled for late summer 2017. Formerly used for industrial port operations, the Oshawa site is already equipped with domes, two of which are currently being refurbished to include a cement unloading system for arriving vessels, and a truck loading station being constructed nearby. The two domes will provide a storage capacity of 14,000t of cement and the terminal will accommodate up to 60 trucks per day for loading and delivery to McInnis customers. The Oshawa terminal will be served primarily by the NACC Quebec, the vessel chartered by McInnis for distribution through the St Lawrence Seaway.
 
McInnis has identified the eastern portion of the continent as its target market. Terminal locations were selected based upon the accessibility to efficient waterways to leverage its water-based transportation advantages and high-population metropolitan areas to minimise the number of truck miles to their customers.
 
Rail car delivery
To serve the needs of its customers via the rail network, McInnis began receiving the first of 25 new cars acquired from TrinityRail. The pressure differential cars of 3230ft3 are designed to efficiently transport, load and unload dry material under tightly sealed conditions.
 
A first convoy of seven cars arrived on the Gaspé railway corporation network (Société du Chemin de fer de la Gaspésie). A second convoy of 12 cars is expected in the coming days, and a final convoy of six cars will follow. All 25 cars are expected to arrive in the Gaspé Peninsula by mid-April and will be ready for loading cement at the New Richmond transshipment site at the start of commercial operations scheduled for the Spring.