b'14American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comRobust cargo trends continue at Port of Prince RupertBy Leo Ryan, AJOTBolsteredbysubstantialThis remains below the one infrastructure investments, Can- millionTEUshandledseveral adasPortofPrinceRupertinyears ago until various shipping northernBritishColumbiahasservices were restructured.maintainedagrowthpatterninDemand for Canadian energy both bulk and container through- productsremainedsteady,with put in the early months of 2026AltaGasRidleyIslandPropane afterasolidperformanceinExport Terminalshippingnearly 2025.Becauseofitslocation,2.4 million tons of liquified petro-PrinceRupertarguablyoffersleum gas (LPG) to markets in Asia, the shortest transit times of anyrepresenting a six percent increase North American West Coast portyear-over-year. Pembinas Watson to Asiaan estimated one to twoIslandLPGBulkTerminalhan-sailing days closer (saving up todled 506,159 tons, marking a one 60 hours) than alternative Westpercent increase. Volumes through Container and bulk throughput at the Port of Vancouver is reaching unprecedented levels. Photo credit: VFPA Coast ports, such as Los Angeles. Draxs Westview Wood Pellet Ter-Cargo through all terminalsminal went up three percent, with Asia trade propels Port of VancouvertotheendofFebruarytotaledclose to 1.3 million tons of biofuel 4.4millionmetrictonsversusflowing through the facility.the year earlier 3.8 million tons.Anothersolidcropyear to record cargo volumes Container, coal and grain ship- led Prince Rupert Grain Termi-mentswerealsoabove2025nal to increase its 2025 exports levels for the period. ofwesternCanadianagricul-By Leo Ryan, AJOT ThePortofPrinceRuperttural products by eight percent handled26.3milliontonsofcomparedto2024.Totalcoal Aftersettingnewtotalandcontainercargothe record 147.4 MMT, with more than three-quar- cargoin2025,a14percentexportvolumesrose18%at recordsin2025thanksnotablytodoubledigitters of international volumes passing through theincrease over 2024. TrigonPacificTerminals,with growth of maritime trade with China, brisk volumesport going to or coming from Indo-Pacific coun- In a recent statement, Kurtmetallurgicalandthermalcoal have continued to pass through Canadas largesttries. The top trading partners through the port inSlocombe,interimpresident,rebounding, up 26% and 21%.port. With Asia accounting for the great bulk of2025 were China (36% of total international vol- PrinceRupertPortAuthority the Port of Vancouvers business, the Middle Eastumes at 52.6 MMT), Japan (13%) and South Korea(PRPA) commented: Our 2025M ajorP rojeCtS inP rogreSScrisis has so far had relatively little impact on the(9%). Trade with the US increased by 12% to 11.6performance reflects the consis- Beyondthestrongopera-operations of the Canadian West Coast port whichMMT. Domestic trade amounted to 23 MMT. tent commitment of the Princetional performance in 2025, the last year handled 170.4 million metric tons (an 8%RupertGatewaysworkforce,PortofPrinceRupertreports increase from 2024) and 3.8 million TEUs. r eCordC oMModitye xPortS terminaloperators,CN,anditmadeconsiderableprogress We continue to monitor the situation in theStrongcargovolumesmovingthroughthecustomers.Thedepthofcol- onseveralmajorprojectsthat Middle East, and our thoughts right now are withport last year were underpinned by banner perfor- laboration between all Gatewayenablevaluablenewcargoes all those directly impacted, remarked Alex Munro,mances across the bulk sector, which is 98% exportpartners to unlock capacity, pro- andenhancethecapacitiesand the ports senior communications advisor. driven. Overall bulk volumes grew 11% to reach avide greater speed to market, andcapabilities of intermodal logis-Althoughtheconflictisdisruptingglobalrecord 130.7 MMT in 2025, including: actively diversify the $60 billiontics. These infrastructure projects supply chains, particularly oil, impacts on Port ofBulk grain exports hit a new record of 30.3in trade that flows through ouraccount for more than $3 billion Vancouver operations have been limited to date,MMT on the back of strong wheat exports, whichPort annually is second to none. incapitalinvestmentandwill he told AJOT. Over the longer term, we will mon- were up 20% compared to 2024 to hit a recordSlocombe took over as chiefbegin coming online in mid-2026 itor potential congestion at major Asian containerof 15.9 MMT. Wheat grown in Western CanadaexecutiveonJanuary1,2026,to further diversify exports, max-terminals(particularlySingapore)andhowlongwas delivered to 35 countries last year, includingfollowingthedecisiontoretireimizesupplychainefficiency, carriers continue avoiding the Suez Canal, as bothcommunities throughout the Indo-Pacific, Europe,ofShaunStevensonwhohadand grow overall cargo volumes.could affect cargo flows and vessel schedules at theCentral America and Middle East regions. expanded and diversified the portConstructioncontinuesto Port of Vancouver. Fertilizer exports through the port surged 21%since2018.SlocombejoinedadvanceontheRidleyIsland In2025,thePortofVancouverhelpedin 2025, as Western Canadian potash (up 28% com- PRPA in 2019 as Vice President,Energy Export Facility (REEF), a deliveralmost2.1millionmetrictons(MMT)pared to 2024) and sulphur (up 5%) reached diverseOperations, Planning and Infra- large-scale, open-access LPG and ofCanadianexportstomarketsintheMiddleworld markets including Brazil, China and Indone- structurefollowingextensivebulk liquids export terminal. The East,mostlygrainandsteelmakingcoal.Mostsia. Potash exports hit a new record of 10.5 MMTexperienceingatewayopera- $1.46 billion AltaGas and Vopak Canadianexportsthroughtheportwenttothelast year, breaking the previous record set in 2020. tions, including at the Fairviewjointventurewillsignificantly UAE, with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Oman otherCrude oil exports doubled in 2025 to reach aContainer Terminal.The BoardstrengthenCanadianenergy top destinations in the region, Munro noted. record 24.4 MMT, as the Trans Mountain expan- of Directors is currently conduct- exports to the Asia Pacific, with January 2026 saw the port continue to movesion enabled Alberta oilsands producers to growing a comprehensive search for aan initial development phase that strongvolumesofCanadiancargowithoverseasexportstomarketsinChinaandSouthKorea.new president and CEO. includesapproximately55,000 markets. Compared to January 2025, grain was upCrude oil is now one of the single largest exportIntermodaltrafficthroughbarrelsperdayofLPGexport 8%, crude oil was up 1%, coal was up 7% and autocommodities moving through the port. DP World Prince Ruperts Fair- capacity and 600,000 barrels of was up 10%. Containers were down 4%, as was fer-Canola oil exports reached new and grow- viewContainerTerminalroseLPG storage.tilizer (potash down 25%, while sulphur was up 4%). ing overseas markets in 2025, as the port enabled20% year-over-year to 885,797PRPAcompletedleveling Western Canadian farmers and crushing operationsTEUs,sparkedbyrobustvol- (TRENDScontinued on t raded iverSifiCation todiversifybeyondtraditionaltradingpartnersumes in the second half of 2025. page 30)In a recent statement on the ports annual per- China and the US. This growth was led by South formance, Peter Xotta, President and CEO of theKorea (up 37%), Peru (up 217%) and included nine Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, stressed the ben- other countries that saw no canola oil exports in efits for the port of Prime Minister Mark Carneys2024. Exports to China and the US accounted for comprehensivetradediversificationstrategy.(Intwo-thirds of 2025s volume, despite a combined this connection, Carney has in the past few monthsdecrease of 2%.staged trade-promotion visits to Malaysia, Japan,Thestrongperformancesacrossmostbulk China, India and Australia.) products offset a fall in bulk exports of coal andAs Prime Minister Carney looks to doublecanola seed, with canola seed falling sharply from exportstonon-U.S.marketsinthenextdecade,August onwards following Chinese tariffs to end the Port of Vancouver is playing an outsized role inthe year down 23% at 6.6 MMT.delivering more made-in-Canada products to moreWe are already seeing encouraging signs that customers globally, Xotta said. We are uniquelycanola seed exports through the Port of Vancouver are poised to support Canadas bold trade goals becauserecovering following a trade deal signed by Canada of decades of strategic investments in terminal andand China in January and are optimistic early year data rail capacity. With nation-building projects like Rob- will show a rebound in volumes, said Xotta.erts Bank Terminal 2 and Second Narrows dredgingThe Port of Vancouver handled about 50% of on the horizon, were showing the world that CanadaCanadas total canola seed exports last year.is open for business.The Port of Vancouver is Canadas largest andL ong - terMC ontainerg roWthC ontinueSNorth Americas most diversified port, moving moreContainerized cargo results were underpinned cargo than the next five largest Canadian ports com- byCanadiandemand,withrecordcontainerized bined. Connecting Canada to more than 170 inter- imports (laden inbound up 5%) and containerized national markets, the port is a critical gateway forexportvolumescontinuingtheirpost-pandemic Canadian tradewith over 85% of the cargo han- recovery (laden outbound up 3%).dled by its 29 major terminals and 1,000-plus tenantsContainersmovedeverythingfromexports in 2025 supporting commerce beyond the US. of high-quality Canadian grain, food and forestryContainer traffic at the Port of Prince Rupert rose by 20 percent in 2025 to International trade surged by 11% in 2025 to hit(PROPELScontinued on page 30) nearly 887,000 TEUs.Photo courtesy of Prince Rupert Port Authority'