b'APRIL 17 - MAY 14, 2023NORTHEAST PORTS 23Ports in Eastern Canada maintain expansion plans amidst challenging timesBy Leo Ryan, AJOTLiketheirpeersinthefour weekly direct services by U.S.Northeast,Canadasmarine carriers between Med-ports on the eastern seaboard,iterranean transshipment ports especially those focusing onand the Port of Montreal.container shipping and opera-India and Southeast Asia tions, todays global environ- generally represent high poten-ment of lackluster economictial growth. This clearly shows growthandgeopoliticaltur- therolethePortofMontreal moilisnotweakeningtheirplaystosupportCanadian resolve to take the necessarycompanies in trading with the stepstoremaincompeti- Indo-Pacificregion,com-tive and position themselvesments Guillaume Brossard, VP forfuturecargodemands.development,marketing,and Supplychain,capacityandinternational relations.decarbonization are key chal- Martin Imbleau, president, lenges being addressed. andCEOrecentlyindicated thattheporthasearmarked p orT oFM onTreal C$335 million in a new five-For the Port of Montreal,(PLANScontinued onPort of Montreals evolving trade patterns have seen India overtake Germany as its top container trade partner.Photo second largest in Canada afterpage 24) courtesy of Port of Montreal.Vancouver, current cargo trends showing a moderate decline in the low single digits (through February) suggest it will notTHE BOSTON SHIPPING ASSOCIATION, INC likely match in 2023 the 2022SERVING THE INTERESTS OF results of 35.4 million metric tons and a 2% volume gain inHELPING CONNECT container traffic. In 2021, theTHE PORT OF BOSTONport handled 34 million tons and1.7millionTEUs.TheGOODS AND PEOPLE Midwestaccountsfor10%AND ENSURING SMOOTH AND ofthecontainerbusinessof the port, and seven out of tenSINCE 1946containersdestinedfortheTIMELY CARGO DELIVERYMidwestcomefromNorth-ern Europe.But with significant market changesandopportunities increasingly on the radar screen, the port is continuing to map ambitiousexpansionprojects, notably for the container sector.Last year, in fact, marked a major turning point in Mon-trealsinternationalmari-time trade relations. The Port ofMontrealsmainpartner country in the container sector became India.The latter over-took Germany, which in recent years had taken top spot away from the United Kingdom in a post-Brexit development. In all, close to 1.6 million tonnes of containerized cargo to and fromIndiawerehandledat Montreal in 2022.Overthepast10years, thePortofMontrealhas greatlydiversifieditsmar-kets.Today,cargohandled attheportcomesnotonly fromNorthernEurope,but also from the Mediterranean, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Germany remainsthemainpartner inNorthernEuropeandthe second largest overall for the year 2022. THE BOSTON SHIPPING ASSOCIATION, INCOverthelastfiveyears, thePortofMontrealsvol- On behalf of its maritime employer members, the Boston Shipping-The Boston Shipping Association, Inc. (BSA) fosters positive labor-management relations between its employer memAssociation (BSA) carries out its mission by facilitating umeshavebasicallydoubledcollaboration between its members, labor unions and maritime stakeholders and by negotiating and administrating union bers and the waterfront labor they employ; and, the BSA is committed to promoting maximization of the use of the Port withIndia,amajorexportcollective bargaining agreements. Through its actions the BSA seeks to encourage the protection and growth of traditional of Boston by ocean shipping and shippers of both export and import cargoes by helping to ensure quick vessel dispatch market.Themaincommodi- maritime industries in the Port of Boston and emphasize the safety of those industries and their workers. concomitant with cost improvement to attract new business to Boston and retain existing customers.ties exported are lentils, forest products and steel. India mainly imports construction materials and rice.ThegrowthinvolumesWWWWWW.BOST.BOSTONSHIPPINGASSOC.COM ONSHIPPINGASSOC.COM with India is largely due to the'