12 August 2008

Containers outperform general cargo in Vancouver

The following article is excerpted from the 11 August 2008 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

Container traffic increased by 4 percent in the first half of the year at Port Metro Vancouver,… bucking an overall trend in which total cargo volumes declined by 5 percent.

Data released on Monday by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority for the combined three local-area ports that call themselves Port Metro Vancouver, show container traffic increased to 1.22 million TEUs in the January-June period from 1.17 million in the comparable period last year. …

Declines were led by forest products, with volumes down 8 percent to 13.3 million metric tons. Also declining were chemicals, metals and minerals, off 26 percent to 8.3 million tons, and wheat and vegetable oil exports, which fell sharply because of higher domestic demand.

Coal and potash shipments, two commodities in high demand in China, both increased by 10 percent, while sulfur and fertilizer volumes rose by 7 percent.