Port of Montreal traffic up 5% in 2003

Port of Montreal traffic up 5% in 2003    The port of Montreal, Quebec, handled a record 1.1 million TEUs in 2003, a 5-percent increase over 2002.
   The Canadian port’s total traffic last year for all commodities increased 11 percent to 20.8 million tons, also a record volume.
   “The economic recovery has certainly stimulated our container traffic, but the latest available statistics also show that in 2003 the port of Montreal outperformed its competitors along the U.S. East Coast,” said Dominic Taddeo, president and chief executive officer of the Montreal Port Authority.
   He cited the recent launch of the 4,100-TEU containerships of the Canada Maritime/OOCL joint St. Lawrence service, and the expansion of the Cast terminal.
   The port of Montreal expects container volume growth of 4 percent this year.
   The port authority reported $5.3 million in net earnings for 2003 after payment of a $3.4-million stipend to the Canadian government, down from $6.3 million in the previous year. Revenues for 2003 amounted to $69 million, while capital investments totaled $25.1 million.