SLOW BUT
STEADY
Port of Vancouver reports stable trade despite supply-chain, extreme weather challenges More container terminal capacity, industrial land required at Canada’s largest port to support long-term resilience of Canada’s core supply chains Provided by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority
T
he Vancouver Fraser Port Authority released its 2021 year-end statistics for goods moving through the Port of Vancouver. Despite the ongoing pandemic and global supply chain challenges, as well as extreme weather events in B.C., 2021 cargo volumes through the Port of Vancouver increased by 1 per cent from 145 to 146 million metric tonnes (MMT) over 2020. “Vancouver’s port community met challenge after challenge in 2021— sometimes working around the 26
B.C. Tugboat Spring 2022
clock—to keep the port connected to national supply chains and goods flowing for Canadians,” says Robin Silvester, President and CEO of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the federal agency mandated to enable Canada’s trade through the Port of Vancouver. “I’d like to recognize and thank industry and the workforce across the port for their exceptional work moving goods through Canada’s largest port in another complex year.” In 2021, record container and foreign bulk volumes, as well as
strong grain volumes in the first half of 2021, helped maintain cargo volumes through the port, despite a challenging trade landscape and the continued federal deferral of cruise in Canada due to COVID-19. Following eight consecutive years of record grain volumes and a 2021 mid-year record of grain shipped through the port, 2021 grain volumes declined by 13 per cent over 2020 after a drought in Western Canada diminished Canadian grain production for the latter half of the year. Port terminals mitigated volume
