While Fairview Terminal experienced gains last month and so far this year, less product overall went through terminals within the Port of Prince Rupert in February.
Last month all terminals within the Port of Prince Rupert handled nearly 1,300,540 tonnes, down 17.6 per cent from February 2014’s total of 1,578,817 tonnes. In the first two months of 2015, more than 3,089,959 tonnes went through operations, down 4.66 per cent from the same period of time in 2014 when nearly 3,241,137 tonnes had been handled.
Last month Fairview Terminal saw 58,441.75 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) go through the operation, an increase of nearly 63.6 per cent when compared to February 2014’s total of 35,725.5 TEUs.
This brings the 2015 year-to-date total to 119,200.5 TEUs by February’s end, which is up nearly 40.4 per cent compared to the first two months of 2014 when 84,917.25 TEUs had passed through the container port.
Fairview Terminal saw just under 42 per cent more imports last month than in February 2014, with 32,212.25 TEUs coming through the terminal in February, up from 22,727 TEUs. As of February’s end, 67,233.25 TEUs were imported so far this year, up more than 26 per cent from the first two months of 2014 when 53,207.75 TEUs had been imported. Exports through Fairview were also up last month. In February, 23,729.5 TEUs went through the terminal, up more than 82.5 per cent from February 2014’s TEU total of 12,998.5. Of this, there was a 32 per cent increase in loaded TEUs and an increase of more than 233 per cent of empty TEUs going through.
So far this year, 49,467.25 TEUs have been exported at Fairview, up 56 per cent from the first two months of 2014 when 31,709.5 TEUs went through.
Westview Terminal was the only other operation within the Port of Prince Rupert that experienced a hike in materials handled last month. In February, nearly 34,165 tonnes were handled at the pellet facility, up 13.69 per cent from 30,052 tonnes in February 2014. However, there was a 1.9 per cent decrease in tonnage year to date, going from 83,184 tonnes in 2014 to just under 81,606 tonnes.
In February, tonnage at Ridley Terminal declined by 61.6 per cent month-over-month, with the operation handling 288,734 tonnes last month compared to 752,123 tonnes in February 2014. Ridley Terminal already experienced a 44.9 per cent drop in tonnage by February’s end, dropping from 1,369,154 tonnes to 754,310.
The amount of logs going through the harbour also decreased, with 11,158 tonnes being moved last month, down more than 41.5 per cent from February 2014’s total of 19,092 tonnes. In the first two months of 2015 75,139 tonnes went through the harbour, down more than five per cent from the same time period in 2014 when 79,237 tonnes were handled.
While Prince Rupert Grain experienced a slight decrease in tonnage last month, the terminal has handled more tonnage so far this year. Last month 407,065.5 tonnes went through the operation, down 3.15 per cent from February 2014’s total of 420,285. However, in the first two months of 2015 more than 1,011,889 tonnes had been handled by Prince Rupert Grain, up 18 per cent from 2014 when 857,277.5 tonnes had been handled.