Thank you very much.
I represent Tata Steel Minerals Canada. It's a mining company in the northern part of Canada in remote sub-Arctic conditions. We have iron ore deposits straddling Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. We have put a very significant investment—over $1.5 billion—into the company. We are the only surviving new mining company that started iron ore mining during the boom period in the early 2000s.
We are facing tough challenges and difficulties, and I'm very pleased to speak in front of this committee because mining and logistics are intertwined and interrelated.
I would like to draw specific attention to access to foreign markets. Iron ore, as you know, is a commodity that is 100% exported from Canada. We have an issue about the port. The federal government has put in place a multi-user deep sea terminal with a public-private partnership. The challenges that we are facing at present are in terms of access to the port and the associated material handling facilities.
The price really is that today the capacity utilization of the port—which is state of the art and top of the line—is 10% to 15%. Out of a 50-million tonne capacity, this year in 2018—the first year—the utilization will be five million to seven million tonnes. The limiting factors, as I said, are the associated facilities in terms of unloading and stockpiling, and then the connectivity to the port.
It is in Sept-Îles, around the Bay of Sept-Îles in Pointe-Noire. The Quebec government has acquired the assets in order to at least have a multi-user concept. However, this requires investment and further funds to develop. That will lay a platform for exports.
Just to give you a sense.... At seven million tonnes, there will be an export of about half a billion dollars. There is an opportunity over the next three to four years for that seven million to go to 20 million to 25 million tonnes.
Tata Steel Minerals Canada is a player. Alderon is another player, and there are Tacora and several other players, so there is a huge opportunity for exports. The projects and investments are made in the northern territories. It allows us to provide huge job opportunities. On our site, consistently, we have about 100 to 150 first nations employees.
On a sustainable basis and on a competitive basis, iron ore exports can grow from Canada only if the logistics are state of the art, world class and cost competitive.
I just want to give you a sense of the market and of another dimension that is very important and where this committee can play a role. The iron ore market has crashed from the peak of $170 per tonne in 2011 to around $60 to $70 now. Canadian iron ore deposits are high quality, but they are in difficult geography in remote locations, and the cost structure is higher. Our competition, really, is Australia and Brazil because their cost structures are low. Despite this, we have a sweet spot because of our good quality and low impurities. However, we can sustain and compete only if we are able to provide cost-competitive, efficient logistics and a gateway for the evacuation of the ore.
I think this is a very important dimension.
Just to give you a sense of the market, I will tell you that there is about 1.4 billion tonnes of seaborne iron ore trade, and Canada would be in the range of 50 million tonnes. The major players are Australia and Brazil. There is, therefore, a huge market.
The second is the Labrador trough, which straddles Quebec and Labrador. It has a resource of over 80 billion tonnes. There is no shortage of deposits. It's the ability to extract them in a cost competitive and an efficient manner.
Really, the upside is a huge number of jobs, very substantial investments, and sustainable development, including working with the first nations communities.
I would urge the committee to consider putting in investments and supporting the efforts of the Government of Quebec in developing this multi-user material handling facility in order to have connectivity to the federal deep-sea new terminal.
Thank you very much.