Portland, Maine-based Dragon Cement and Concrete, which operates New England's only cement plant, met in May with officials from Quebec's Port Authority to discuss creating a marine terminal on the St. Lawrence River for the company to ship its product into Canada. The meeting, held in Quebec City, included members of the company's board, company officers, and officials from the Port Authority.

In 1995, Dragon created an inter-modal rail and barge system to ship product from its plant in Thomaston, Maine, to Boston an New Hampshire ports. As a result, the company was able to complement its traditional shipping of product by truck and rail and expand into new markets, which is what he hopes will happen in Canada, said Joseph Koch III, Dragon's president. Koch added that the focus of the meeting was to explore the process by which the company would search for and purchase a property for a marine terminal. The parties also discussed location, traffic, regulations, and environmental concerns.