A booming economy coupled with construction for the 2010 Winter Olympics have increased breakbulk shipments at the Port of Vancouver’s Lynnterm facilities. With even more projects in the pipeline, business looks good for 2008.By Leo Quigley, AJOTThe run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics to be held in Vancouver and Whistler, BC, together with a booming economy in both British Columbia and Alberta due to the oil boom have brought with them increases in breakbulk shipments through Lynnterm, located on the Port of Vancouver’s North Shore and Fraser Port, on the Fraser River. In addition to rebuilding the coastal mountain highway between the City of Vancouver and the world class ski resort of Whistler at a cost Of C$1.9 billion to accommodate traffic to the Olympics, the two ports are also the gateway for building materials needed for the various Olympic venues including: the Whistler Nordic Venue, Cypress Mountain, Whistler Creekside, the Pacific Coliseum and the Whistler Sliding Centre. As with the rebuilding of the “Sea to Sky Highway” all of these projects require materials such as rebar, metal products and aggregate for construction. And, the construction, said to be “on time” is expected to continue until at least 2009. During the second quarter of 2006 this and other traffic resulted in steel volumes at Lynnterm having to advise its steel customers that the “dramatic increases in steel imports through the West Coast have put a strain on most parts of the transportation and supply chain.” In an advisory, Dave Lucas, Assistant Manager, Terminal Operations, told customers that, during May of last year, steel volumes were 68% higher than during a typical month at the breakbulk terminal. Lucas also advised customers that Lynnterm was experiencing delays and constraints due to the rapid increase in volume, congestion on the Terminal and significant strains on labor supply at the port. To reduce inventories Western Stevedoring, operator of the terminal went to night loading trucks during the week and on Saturday day shifts at no extra cost to customers. As well, the terminal increased the size of its lift truck fleet and increased both its regular workforce staff levels and office staff to handle customer enquiries and the processing of truck deliveries. However, while the increase in rebar and other steel construction materials through the terminal were a bright spot, Brad Eshleman, Vice President, Finance and Administration, told AJOT the fact that a major pipeline planned for Western Canada was temporarily delayed for cost reasons was a disappointment for Lynnterm. For the Port of Vancouver generally, steel, iron and alloy handlings during 2006 climbed by 45% to 728,000 tons. At Fraser Port the amount of general cargo also saw and increase from 614,264 tons to 650,291 tons. And, while not breakbulk traffic, the amount of inbound aggregate, primarily for construction, moved during the second quarter of this year reached 1,069,903 tons compared to 793,987 tons for the same period last year and the amount of outbound aggregate also increased from 87,600 tons to 104,500 tons.