b'SEPTEMBER 2024NORTH AMERICAS TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS PUBLICATION 37(HANDLEcontinued fromandCEO,PrinceRupertPortthePortshistory,withacapitalMeanwhile, the NPA reportswith record cargo volume of 37 page 32) Authority, in commenting on thecost of $1.35 billion. REEF willthatthePortofNanaimoandmilliontons.Morethanever, to 3.1 million TEUs. 2023 performance. provideunprecedentedmarketpartners DP World, Province ofwe are aware of the role we play Whiletherewasasoften- Constructionwasstartedaccess for Canadas energy sectorBC, and the National Trade Cor- in the heart of economic activ-ing of container volumes movingin2023ontheC$750-millionby facilitating the export of lique- ridor Fund Duke Point terminalityandcommunityaction, throughthePortofVancouverRidleyIslandExportLogisticsfied petroleum gases, methanol,investmentofover$100misdeclared Pierre D. Gagnon, CEO in2023,CanadascontainerProjectsubsequentlyre-namedand other bulk liquids. slated to break ground this Sep- of the Port of Sept-les.sectorremainsonalong-termCANXPORT. It is an innovativetember.Thislong-anticipatedWehavereclaimedthe growthtrajectoryandwesawlarge-scalefacilitythatwillpro- P ort ofn anaImo terminal upgrade and construc- second position among Canadian encouragingsignsofrecoveryvide rail-to-containertransload- At the Port of Nanaimo ontionprojectwillincreasetheports for annual activity volume, in Q4 as year-over-year volumesing of multiple export products.VancouverIsland,totalcargoterminalscapabilitytohandlewhilereinforcingourstatusas started to grow, Peter Xotta, pres- RayMont Logistics will developamountedto3.9milliontonssmallcontainershipsandpro- the largest mineral port in North ident and CEO, commented whenand operate the sites transloadin 2023 versus 4.1 million tonsvideadditionalpropertyforAmerica,addedGagnonwho the annual results were released. facilities that will provide a totalin 2022 and 4.3 million tons inimport/exportgoodshandling.estimates total cargo could attain As 2024 has advanced, sta- capacity of 400,000 TEUs annu- 2021. Forest products and logsAnotheradvantagewillbeits40 million tons in 2024.tistics released by the port showally and is to commence opera- have continued to be the leadingability to service a general cargoInthisregard,hepoints container volume up slightly intions in Q3 2026. cargocategories,respectivelyship and a more frequently sched- tocurrentinterestfrommajor the period to end July at 2 mil- ThispastMay,itwastotalling 1.3 million tons and 1.5uledcontainerbargessimultane- steelmakers inhigh-purity iron lionTEUs.Whetherafirmingannounced that the Canada Infra- million tons in 2023. Containerously.Additionally,alegacyfromtheLabradorTroughto trendpersistsinthecomingstructureBank(CIB)reachedtraffic added up to 240,000 tons,diesel container quay crane willaccelerate decarbonization efforts monthscouldhingeonpoten- financialcloseona$150mil- representing 20,236 TEUs. beretired,andtwonewerandin the iron industry.tialworkstoppageresultinglionloantothePrinceRupertIn its spring 2024 newsletter,larger and more productive elec- Upcoming projects to boost fromdeadlockednegotiationsPort Authority for the first phasethe Nanaimo Port Authority (NPA)tric container cranes are to takecargo-handling capacity include betweenunionizedlongshore- of the CANXPORT project. Thisevoked the remarkable growthits place. aC$30millionrefurbishment men and British Columbia mari- is the CIBs first investment in aoftheBCVehicleProcessingoftheMonseigneur-Blanche time employers. Canadian port. Centre (BCVPC). In the past year,terminal,oneoffiveterminals Trade for the Port of Van- AlsoinMay,Vopakandthe BCVPC has seen a substantial(PURSUEcontinued fromat a vast, niche port which can couver last year was affected byAltaGas confirmed a big investmentincrease in the volume of vehiclespage 36) accommodate the worlds larg-a number of global and domesticdecisionontheRidleyEnergyprocessed, illustrating the centresthe north shore of the St. Law- estbulkcarrierstransporting challenges, including a coolingExport Facility (REEF). This rep- growing importance in the globalrenceRiver,2023wascharac- iron ore from Canada to Euro-globaleconomy,geo-politicalresented the largest investment inautomotive distribution network. terizedbyimpressivegrowth,pean and Asian markets.issuessuchasdisruptionsto the Panama Canal and Red Sea trade routes, and a strike in July thatdisruptedcontainer,bulk, breakbulk and auto terminals. Bulk exports spiked 13% in 2023, compared to 2022, to reach arecord91.5milliontonsincluding increases in grain, sul-phur, coal and petroleum product volumes. Nine bulk grain termi-nals at the port helped to export 14.7milliontonsofwheatto 38differentcountries,a52% year-over-yearincrease,while canola exports increased 36% to 7 million tons and specialty crops grew 30% to 4 million tons. P ort ofP rIncer uPertThe closest North American West Coast port to Asia in 2023 handled23.5milliontonsof cargo,fivepercentlessthanin 2022.Hardesthitwascontainer traffic, which plunged by 32% to 7 million tons. Thus, container cargo translated into TEUs fell from just over one million units in 2022 to 704,248 TEUs in 2023.This marked the third con-secutive year of volume decline and reflected challenges of shift-ingglobalshippingroutes,soft demand for imports, and compe-tition with other North American tradegatewaysfordiscretionary cargo,PrinceRupertportoffi-cials have noted. The July 2023 docker strike in British Columbia ports which had a major impact onCanadiansupplychainswas another important factor, industry observers indicated.Nevertheless,therewas solidgrowthinexportsof energyanddrybulkproducts andstrongshipmentsofwood pellets to Europe and Asia.Atleastonthecontainer front a recovery trend appeared to be gaining traction in the first seven months of 2024, with DP WorldFairviewContainer Ter-minal volume to July at 4.7 mil-lion tons versus the year-earlier 14.3 million tons. The Port of Prince Rupert isatacriticaljuncture,and wearefocusedonactively expandingtheservices,capac-ity,andcapabilitiesrequired tostrengthenourcompetitive advantagethattradepartners and industry have come to rely onandgrowourgateway, said Shaun Stevenson, President'