Port of Kitimat

brainstorm

Porcupine

With the province of BC going from surplus to deficit this year, and the large amount of revenue the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter supplies the province, I wonder what the effects of the aluminum tariffs have been on the provincial coffers. My understanding from my friend who works at RTA is that all of the sales from Rio Tinto are bulk aluminum for export. I wonder if we can use some of that in Canada for value add. Fact is aluminum is the best metal for the coast since it doesn't corrode.

lio45

Porcupine With the province of BC going from surplus to deficit this year, and the large amount of revenue the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter supplies the province, I wonder what the effects of the aluminum tariffs have been on the provincial coffers. My understanding from my friend who works at RTA is that all of the sales from Rio Tinto are bulk aluminum for export. I wonder if we can use some of that in Canada for value add. Fact is aluminum is the best metal for the coast since it doesn't corrode.

It's a great material, lightweight too. It's one of our assets here in Quebec (cheap and plentiful hydro power = competitive process to make aluminum) and it was one of the cards we had to play in Trump's trade war. (i.e. rather than let the Yanks use it for value-add manufacturing south of the border, we could keep it and try to lure manufacturing here instead.)

Welcome, BTW 🙂

brainstorm

@Porcupine Welcome! Thanks for joining!
(Dropped you a DM, they hide in the top left menu ↖️ )

Great points. Spot on.
We need more value add (manufacturing, processing, end-products) in Canada. That's where the real GDP gains are. Infographic on coffee, to illustrate the markup at each value-add stage of the supply chain, from bean to cup.

The money ain't in beans ($0.06).
It's in what beans make ($2.17).
Same with alum, copper, and other minerals.

brainstorm

So apparently the AB oil pipeline is targeting Prince Rupert.

Below has always been my beef with Prince Rupert.

Where is there room to build? The road is already sandwiched between the Skeena and a rock wall. The rail and road take up any space that exists there at all. Are they going to bore through mountains? That's pricy. I've always favored Kitimat due to the plentiful expansion room for multiple pipes/rails/etc....