Upswing for Vancouver
Vancouver marks a record year: The Canadian Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has reported its figures for H1/2021. From January to June, cargo volumes through Canada’s largest port reached 76.4 million t, up 7% compared to H1/2020, and 5% higher than the previous record mark set in 2019.
Container throughput in H1/ 2021 increased strongly by 24% to 1.9 million teu, 15% higher than the previous record set in 2019, as a result of continued growth in global demand for Canadian products shipped in containers and Canadian demand for consumer and manufacturing goods from Asia.
Currently, the port is running two container terminal projects: Construction of the Centerm Expansion Project is well underway, but even with this increase, the port is forecast to run out of capacity by the mid to late 2020s. If approved, the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project will provide a 50% increase to the port’s container capacity.
Strong overseas demand for Canadian grain products—a main driver of the overall record mid-year cargo volumes—resulted in record mid-year volumes of bulk grain, up 20% to 16.5 million t compared to mid-year 2020 and up 35% from 2019. Total foreign tonnage and foreign exports resulted in 60.3 and 52 million t, up 4% respectively. (cd)