Montreal Port Authority announces good results in 2013

 MONTREAL, Que.–n 2013, the Port of Montreal announced it had another very good year despite still difficult economic conditions. In fact, it managed to maintain comparable results to those of the last two years, and to put this in context, 2011 was a record year. In 2013, the Port of Montreal handled a grand total of 28.2 million tonnes (Mt) of cargo, a slight decrease of 0.9% compared to 2012, the port announced.

The President and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority (MPA), Ms. Sylvie Vachon, reported on the MPA’s activities in 2013 at the annual meeting held on May 13, 2014.  Vachon also took the occasion to present the organization’s financial results.

The Port of Montreal handles containers, liquid bulk and dry bulk, and welcomes cruise passengers. In 2013, container traffic remained stable at 11.9 Mt compared to 12 Mt the previous year, a slight decrease of 1.1%. Factoring in the weakness of the European economy, this decrease was offset by the growing diversification of the markets served by the Port of Montreal. 

Similarly, liquid bulk traffic edged down 1.8% to 9.5 Mt. “The year 2013 remains one of the best years for this business sector. For its part, dry bulk traffic increased 0.2% to 6.6 Mt. One of the noteworthy increases is iron ore (up 31.9%). “In 2014, this sector will continue to grow, especially once a new partner, CanEst, starts operating a grain containerization facility at the end of the summer,” said Sylvie Vachon.

The year 2013 was also the post-Panamax year, when the Port of Montreal received authorization to welcome vessels up to 44 metres wide and carrying up to 6,000 containers.

In terms of sustainable development, in 2013, the MPA continued its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint. Among other things, it used a highly innovative method to extract, solidify and reuse poor soils in the Viau sector and completed its fleet of hybrid vehicles for the security and fire prevention departments, the port said.