Domestic shipping remained steady at 21,396,173 tonnes year-to-date. Total domestic outbound volumes climbed 2% to 12,741,941 tonnes. Domestic inbound shipments declined by 1% year-to-date, to 8,654,232 tonnes for the quarter, despite some dramatic changes in commodities such as wood products, including a 265% growth in lumber shipments, an 88% increase in wood chips and an 80% decline in inbound pulp.

International shipments saw an expected decrease as year-to-date totals reached 3,267,529 tonnes. The decrease was primarily reflected in container volume decreases, which fell off to 23,075 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the quarter, with year-to-date totals at 76,981 TEUs.

Niche cargo imports, such as automobiles, steel and lumber remained strong. Automobiles showed a healthy increase of 15% to 106,275 units for the quarter, 370,496 year-to-date. Steel imports hit 300,044 tonnes for the quarter, up 37% year-to-date at 839,740 tonnes, and lumber imports were up 77% year-to-date at 8,211 tonnes. Total export fell by 26% with declines in all commodities except logs, which saw a 12% increase over the first three quarters of last year to 863,201 tonnes.

Ship arrivals remained relatively unchanged despite the drop in container traffic, down just 5% at 480 arrivals.

Fraser River Port is Canada’s largest fresh water port and Canada’s largest automobile port, encompassing 270 kilometres of shoreline along the Fraser River from Langley to the Strait of Georgia. The Port generates 16,100 direct local jobs and contributes $1.3 billion to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product.

International Cargo Summary - 3rd Quarter 2006
Domestic Cargo Summary - 4th Quarter 2006