Port of Prince Rupert posts throughput decline in 2015

Although the Canadian port’s container volumes surged during 2015, total throughput dropped 4.8 percent year-over-year to 19.6 million metric tons.    The Port of Prince Rupert, situated in Western Canada, handled 19.6 million metric tons of cargo in 2015, a 4.8 percent decline from 2014, according to recent figures released by the port.
   Prince Rupert’s container throughput, however, which reached an all-time record in 2015, surged 25.6 percent-year-over-year to 776,412 TEUs.
   Container traffic at the port is handled at the Fairview Container Terminal. The terminal, which features one berth that is equipped to handle 13,000-TEU vessels, is currently undergoing its second phase of expansion to increase its annual handling capacity from 850,000 TEUs to 1.35 million TEUs. The phase is scheduled for completion in 2017.
   According to BlueWater Reporting’s Port Dashboard tool, the Port of Prince Rupert is frequented by four container shipping services, three of which dedicated transpacific loops and the TP3/TP12/Empire/New Orient, which operates between Asia, the Middle East/Indian subcontinent and the East Coast of North America as well as West Coast U.S. ports. The TP3/TP12/Empire/New Orient is operated by the 2M Alliance, comprised of Maersk Line and MSC, and began calling the Port of Prince Rupert at the beginning of October.
   The Port Dashboard tool does not account for intra-regional services outside of BlueWater Reporting’s scope – i.e. those that only call ports within North America.
   Although container volumes at Prince Rupert were strong in 2015, coal and petroleum coke volumes tumbled 37.7 percent year-over-year to 4.4 million metric tons.
   Grain volumes dropped 3.1 percent from 2014 to 6.3 million metric tons, but the port noted 2014 grain volumes were an all-time high.
   Wood pellet shipments reached 734,598 metric tons in 2015, while log shipments totaled 434,955 metric tons, year-over-year increases of 43.5 percent and 23.6 percent, respectively.
   In addition, project cargo volumes totaled 2,278 metric tons in 2015.
   “While down marginally from last year’s total volume, 2015 was historically the fourth best year on record, and signifies the port’s ability to weather commodity cycles and capitalize on opportunities for expansion and new development,” Port of Prince Rupert President and CEO Don Krusel said in a statement.