Prince Rupert's quarterly box volume nearly doubles, but coal down

THE Port of Prince Rupert has announced its container throughput nearly doubled, chemicals increased 84 per cent, while grain and log shipments held their own in the first quarter.

But total throughput during the period fell 24.5 per cent to 2.3 million tonnes with the main contributor to the decline being coal shipments through Ridley Terminals, according to a port authority statement.

All other traffic sectors at the Port of Prince Rupert showed positive performance levels when compared to the same period last year.

The port's Fairview Container Terminal handled 41,043 TEU in the first three months of 2009, nearly double the 21,040 TEU handled in the first quarter 2008.

We need to keep in mind that the Fairview Terminal only commenced operations on November 1, 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 was part of the ramping up period, said port authority president and CEO Don Krusel.

However, we are very pleased with the container terminal's performance and volumes during this severe global economic downturn.

During the first quarter, all import containers were fully loaded, while 32.5 per cent of outbound containers destined for Asia were fully laden.

Source: Transportweekly