Port Metro Vancouver sets container mark in October

Port Metro Vancouver hit its highest point in container traffic in three years in October, with volume growing 19.5 percent over the same month a year ago.

Exports at the port grew 23.4 percent during October, offsetting a seasonal slowdown in containerized import volume.
Total laden container volume in October reached 197,652 TEUs, the most Port Metro Vancouver has recorded since the authority was formed at the start of 2008 from the combination of three separate entities.

The October total was 1.7 percent better than September’s overall laden container volume, largely because containerized exports soared 18.7 percent from September to October. The 92,754 laden export TEUs also was the largest monthly total for exports Port Metro Vancouver has recorded.

As Canada’s most important asset in the growth and prosperity of our Pacific Gateway, Port Metro Vancouver is on the way to recovery, with capacity-building projects under way and delivered, and double-digit volume increases across all our major cargo sectors,” said Robin Silvester, president and CEO of Port Metro Vancouver.

Imports have been weakening this fall, however. The 104,897 laden TEUs in October represented a drop of 9.7 percent from September and the lightest inbound total at Vancouver since April.

Photo courtesy of Port Metro Vancouver.