https://www.saultstar.com/news/local-news/algoma-ponders-public-port-mayor

The new owners of Algoma Steel Inc. are interested in examining opportunities that could see a public port developed on their property, says the city’s mayor.

Mayor Christian Provenzano said his goal this year to get the parties together to start from the drawing board and determine how a public access port can be developed that will be beneficial to the community.  

He wants to establish a committee between Algoma, the city and Economic Development Corp., to look at potential models that will work for stakeholders and benefit the community as a whole.

Provenzano said he reached out to Algoma Steel Inc. CEO Kalyan Ghosh to gauge interest in developing a new public port.

“The port is still a project the city is interested in. We recognized that the most important thing was to have Algoma come out of the (CCAA) process as a healthy company but we’ve always believed in the port access,” Provenzano told The Sault Star.
The mayor said he had always made it clear in discussions with creditors, now the new owners of the company, that the city was interested in pursuing a public port project.

“Algoma is completely open to working with us on developing a port project,” Provenzano said. “It’s not going to look like Algoma Ports did. Algoma Ports had all the water access and Algoma (Steel) is not going to put itself in that position again.”

He anticipates that the committee will examine how a public access port can exist on Algoma’s property and serve the community. Any recommendations will need to be returned to city council and Algoma’s board of directors for approval.

“We’ve started talking about it and that’s an important first step,” Provenzano said.

 In the meantime, the port is still accessible to other private companies in Sault Ste. Marie and across the region.

The former Port of Algoma has been returned to Algoma Steel Inc. as part of negotiations that saw creditors purchase the steelmaker.

Late last fall, the port was forced into receivership by its prime lenders, GIP Primus and Brightwood Loan Services in order to move forward and finalize the purchase of Algoma Steel.

That move was part of the legal mechanics needed under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act process to return the Port of Algoma assets to the new owner of the steel plant.

Provenzano said that ultimately sets the reset button for a public access port project.

“This has been a long-term community goal and I’m confident we can do this,” he said. “I think there is a lot of goodwill to move this project forward and I believe it is something we can do over the course of this term.”

If Noront Resources chooses Sault Ste. Marie as its location for a ferrochrome facility, a port will also be necessary for its operations and movement of goods and materials.

Provenzano said Noront would have access to the Algoma port facilities established through any lease arrangement the two entities make.

But a new public port could be established as a different operating company, separate from Algoma Steel, he said.

Provenzano expects initial discussions and ideas to emerge between the city, EDC and Algoma Steel over the next three or four months and a model to be developed shortly after that.

“Hopefully after about six months we may have something brought back to council and to Algoma’s board to see if something agreeable can be reached,” he said. “I want to get this process up and running again and we can look at some of the other options that were originally examined.”

The idea of developing a public port in Sault Ste. Marie goes back about a decade.

With the city strategically located in the heart of the Great Lakes, in the centre of Canada and in close proximity to the Midwest, the location is ideal to ship goods and materials in and out of the city.

In 2014 all three levels of government contributed to a $5.34-million business case development project to investigate and plan for a regional harbour touted to have an economic impact across the north. The project was designed to show how the port could be an economic enabler in various markets to reduce shipping distances and costs for supply chain needs.