Port of Toronto hits eight-year cargo high

TORONTO, Ontario—More than two million tonnes of cargo from around the world were received through the Port of Toronto, marking an eight-year high for marine imports into the city.

More than 160 ships visited the Port of Toronto in 2014, resulting in the highest level of imports since 2007 and representing a 30 percent increase over 2013 tonnages. The cargo carried into the Port last year included stone and aggregate imports which increased by 50 percent, and salt imports which increased nearly 150 percent, over the previous year.

“From the salt used on our roads to keep drivers safe to the concrete used in Toronto’s booming construction industry, the goods delivered through Toronto’s Port have a significant impact on the people, projects, and industries of Toronto,” said Geoffrey Wilson, CEO,  PortsToronto.

In addition to its economic impact, increased imports through the Port has a positive impact on the environment and traffic congestion given that the more than two million tonnes of cargo delivered by ship took approximately 50,000, 40-tonne trucks off Toronto’s already congested roads and highways. One tonne of freight can travel 240 kilometres on a single litre of fuel by ship, whereas it can only travel 30 kilometres on the same amount of fuel by truck.

Since 1793, the Port of Toronto has served as Toronto’s gateway to the St. Lawrence Seaway and to marine ports around the world. Before the introduction of the shipping container, and its use as the major means of moving non-bulk cargo, such items as automobiles, rubber and farm machinery were common cargo through the Port of Toronto. Now serving primarily as a bulk cargo facility, the Port’s unique location minutes from downtown Toronto provides a network of intermodal links to road, rail and air transportation, allowing goods from such countries as Germany, Australia, South Korea, China and the USA to flow in and out of the city.