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Fairview Terminal traffic continues to grow as overall port of Prince Rupert tonnage drops

While all but one terminal in the Port of Prince Rupert saw increases in August, there was a small decline in overall tonnage handled.

While all but one terminal in the Port of Prince Rupert saw increases in August, there still was a small decline in overall tonnage handled last month.

Fairview Terminal saw nothing but increasing tonnage last month. Throughout the month of August, 64,257 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) were handled at Fairview, up 24 per cent from August 2013's total of 51,651.

By August's end 409,683 TEUs had gone through the terminal, an increase of 14 per cent compared to the first eight months of 2013 when 358,716 TEUs were handled.

August's imports went up by 16 per cent at Fairview, with 36,744 TEUs being moved, whereas in August 2013 31,679 TEUs were imported. This meant that by August's end 243,328 TEUs were imported through the terminal in 2014, up 21 per cent from the same period of time in 2013 when 201,640 TEUs were shipped out.

Exports jumped 38 per cent in August, with 27,513 TEUs going through Fairview in contrast to 19,972 TEUs in August 2013. Of this, there were 13 per cent more loaded TEUs leaving Fairview, and 91 per cent more empty TEUs. Year-to-date, six per cent more TEUs were exported with 166,355 TEUs leaving the operation by August's end, compared to 157,075 in the first eight months of 2013.

Prince Rupert Grain saw a massive spike in tonnage last month, with 653,660 tonnes being shipped compared to 292,181 tonnes in August 2013; a 124 per cent jump. By August's end 34 per cent more grain was handled year-over-year, with 4,549,038 tonnes being moved so far this year in contrast to 3,407,134 tonnes in 2013.

While the harbour saw a 24 per cent increase in logs handled last month, there still was a 10 per cent drop in tonnage year-over-year. Last month 6,721 tonnes were moved in contrast to 5,440 in August 2013, with the year-to-date total being 233,217 tonnes, down from 259,636 tonnes by August 2013's end.

Ridley Terminals Inc. saw the largest drop last month, with 462,397 tonnes being handled compared to 1,041,828 tonnes in August 2013, a decline of 56 per cent. The year to date total was down 34 per cent, with 5,409,472 tonnes going through RTI by August's end compared to 8,145,771 in the first eight months of 2013.

Westview Terminal handled 77,540 tonnes in August, bringing its year-to-date total to 313,702 tonnes.

While all but one terminals in the Port of Prince Rupert saw increases last month, there was still a one per cent drop in overall tonnage handled. In August, 1,845,390 tonnes were moved through terminals, whereas in August 2013 1,855,959 tonnes had moved through Prince Rupert. By August's end 14,607,870 tonnes were handled at all operations, down five per cent from 15,406,868 in the same time period of 2013.