Westshore stock recovers after Canada region seeks U.S. coal ban

Westshore Terminals Investment

27/04/2017 20:19

April 27 (Reuters) - Shares of port-operator Westshore 
Terminals Investment Corp  WTE.TO  recovered some lost ground on 
Thursday after dropping sharply a day earlier on news British 
Columbia had urged the government to ban U.S. coal exports from 
provincial ports in a trade spat. 
    Shares of Westshore, which operates North America's largest 
coal export terminal, lost nearly one-fifth of their value on 
Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange before closing 11.8 
percent lower. 
    The shares were up 1.8 percent on the day on Thursday at    
C$23.44. 
    In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British 
Columbia Premier Christy Clark had asked the federal government 
to ban transshipments of U.S. thermal coal for Asia through her 
province. Clark requested the ban in reprisal for the U.S. 
decision on Monday to impose a 20-percent tariff on softwood 
lumber.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1HX0XP 
    British Columbia is Canada's largest provincial producer and 
exporter of softwood lumber, accounting for 50 percent of 
Canada's exports to the United States. 
    Asked whether Ottawa would grant Clark's request, Trudeau 
press secretary Cameron Ahmad said: "We're considering it as we 
would seriously consider any other request from a premier." 
    Nick Desmarais, a spokesman for Westshore, on Thursday 
dismissed Wednesday's hit to the company's shares as "typical 
stock market reaction" to Clark's letter, which he said would 
not result in a ban. He added that he expected the shares to 
bounce back. 
    Clark's letter, which she made public, came as her Liberal 
Party, unaffiliated with Trudeau's federal Liberals, is slipping 
in the polls for a May 9 election. The opposition New Democratic 
Party has surged to a lead of almost 10 percentage points, 
according to a new Mainstreet/Postmedia poll released on 
Tuesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1HX23F 
    A spokesman for Cloud Peak Energy Inc  CLD.N , one of the 
biggest U.S. coal companies exporting coal through British 
Columbia, said: "We are aware of the (Clark) letter. Cloud Peak 
Energy values our Canadian trading partners and hopes this 
matter is resolved to benefit all interests." 
    Cloud Peak shares closed 6.6 percent lower on Wednesday and 
were down 7 percent on the day on Thursday. 
    In Quebec, another big lumber-producing province, softwood 
negotiator Raymond Chretien said the sides should try to settle 
the dispute ahead of efforts to renegotiate terms of the North 
American Free Trade Agreement, another source of trade friction 
between Canada and the United States.  
    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was ready to 
kill the 23-year-old trade agreement but agreed to renegotiate 
it due to pleas from the leaders of Canada and Mexico. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1HZ0LD 
 
 (Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal, Ethan Lou in 
Calgary, Alberta, and Valerie Volcovici in Washington) 
 ((Ethan.Lou@thomsonreuters.com; +1-403-531-1634; Reuters 
Messaging: ethan.lou.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: USA TRADE/CANADA BRITISHCOLUMBIA