The Journal of Commerce has released its list of the fastest growing container ports in North America and Prince Rupert’s Fairview Terminal sits alone at the top of the list of 25.
Prince Rupert experienced a growth of 13.8 per cent in the number of loaded containers being handled, a number that just beats out the 11.23 per cent growth experienced by the Port of Mazanillo in Mexico and the 11.2 per cent growth experienced by Boston, Massachusetts. However, the growth experienced in Prince Rupert is well above the 2.5 per cent growth experienced by all North American terminals and significantly higher than the 1.6 per cent growth seen across all Canadian terminals.
“The Port Authority is obviously pleased to be recognized as the fastest-growing container port in North America. The fact that Fairview Container Terminal is still seeing such impressive growth after seven years of operation speaks to the strength of the terminal operator, Maher Terminals, and remarkable effort by the operation’s longshore workforce,” said Prince Rupert Port Authority corporate communications manager Michael Gurney.
“The Port of Prince Rupert’s attractive attributes are well-known: proximity to Asia, a naturally deep harbour and fast rail times to midwestern North America. The shippers who, early on, recognized the value of these advantages are gradually growing their volumes through Prince Rupert. Particularly in the last 12 to 18 months, existing users have been steadily increasing throughput. This has a lot to do with the fluid operations and strong track record of service at Fairview. Again, the longshore workforce and management deserve recognition for these achievements.”
When outbound cargo and import cargo are considered independently, the terminal in Prince Rupert more than bucks the national trend. Figures from the Prince Rupert Port Authority show export growth at 3.4 per cent for 2014 compared to an overall 5.2 per cent drop in exports from all Canadian terminals while import tonnage grew 18.9 per cent compared to an overall seven per cent increase across Canadian terminals.
“One of the reasons for increased exports through Prince Rupert is the rise in containerized forest products that are travelling through Fairview Terminal. Prince Rupert is well-situated to handle lumber and other wood exports that are grown and manufactured in northern British Columbia,” said Gurney.
“While Fairview was originally envisioned as an import terminal handling containers for North American markets, the number of laden export containers have grown consistently due to demand from countries like China for Canadian natural resource products.”