Port of Vancouver container traffic rose 6% in 2003

Port of Vancouver container traffic rose 6% in 2003    Container traffic at the port of Vancouver, British Columbia, increased 6 percent last year, from 1.46 million TEUs in 2002 to a record 1.54 million TEUs. Containerized import volumes grew 1 percent to 748, 251 TEUs, while containerized export volumes grew 10 percent to 790,807 TEUs.
   The Canadian port cited ongoing growth in its containerized trade with China, Japan and South Korea.
   It predicted that container volumes on the Pacific Coast of North America will double over the next 15 years.
   The port also reported resurgence in bulk shipments of products like coal, grain, wood pulp and potash.
   The port of Vancouver is currently adding terminal capacity to capture what it described as “its share of a projected 6 million TEUs of container traffic that British Columbia ports could experience by 2020.”
   The port of Montreal, on the East Coast of Canada, recently reported a 5-percent increase in its container traffic in 2003, to 1.1 million TEUs.