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Shipping in Canada
2002
Highlights
- Activity at Canada’s ports surpassed 400 million metric tonnes despite a second consecutive decline in international shipments. Growth in domestic shipments more than made up for the back-to-back slump in foreign cargo. In total, Canadian ports handled a record 407.9 million metric tonnes of cargo in 2002, up 3.4% from 2001.
- Domestic cargo rose 16.1% to 125.2 million tonnes, the highest level in a decade. It was driven by increased production in the offshore oil fields in Newfoundland and Labrador as the Terra Nova wells came on-stream in January 2002. (Domestic cargo is handled twice by terminals – once when it is loaded, and again when unloaded.)
- On the other hand, international cargo slumped 1.4% to 282.7 million tonnes, the result of lower inbound shipments of crude petroleum, coal and fuel oils. This followed a 2.3% decline in foreign shipments in 2001.
- Vancouver, again the country’s leading port for both bulk cargo and containerized freight, accounted for almost 16% of the nation’s marine cargo. In 2002, Vancouver’s port moved 63.2 million tonnes, a 12.3% decline, which was mainly the result of decreases in shipments of coal, wheat, canola and barley. The port handled nearly one-half (48%) of all containers in Canada’s ports.
- Shipments between Canada and the United States accounted for about 40% of all international cargo handled by Canadian ports in 2002.
- Marine traffic to and from the United States increased 5.9% to 114.3 million tonnes in 2002. This was driven by a 17.5% gain in cargo shipped to the United States. Inbound cargo from the United States fell 9.7%.
- The growth in US-bound cargo was driven by substantial gains in shipments of crude petroleum, a reflection of the increased production of the Newfoundland offshore oil fields.
- Most other major bulk commodities shipped to the United States in 2002 also showed strong increases, in particular gasoline and aviation turbine fuel, and iron ores and concentrates. Salt destined for Great Lakes ports in the United States was the only major commodity incurring decreased shipping activity.
- Coal shipments accounted for over 45% of all inbound shipments from the United States in 2002. These declined 14.3% in 2002, following a 10.1% gain the year earlier. Ports at Nanticoke, Courtright, and Port Credit were hardest hit by this decline.
- Fuel oil from Atlantic and Gulf ports in the United States dropped 16.3% in 2002. Hardest hit were the ports of Montréal/Contrecoeur, Saint John and Halifax.
- Ships registered in Canada handled 44% of the Canada-US cargo in 2002, down from 50% in 2001. Canadian-flag ships were especially dominant on the Great lakes with 89% of the cargo exchanged with US Great Lakes ports.
- US-flag ships carried 9% of all Canada-US cargo, down from 10% in 2001. Foreign-flag ships carried the remaining 47%.
- Saint John, N.B., Canada’s second busiest port authority, handled 25.2 million tonnes of cargo in 2002, a 3.2% increase. The gain occurred despite a plunge in inbound shipments of fuel oils from the US Atlantic and Gulf region, and the Central America and Antilles region. This was offset by strong growth in other bulk commodities, such as crude petroleum, gasoline and aviation turbine fuels and potash.
- Sept-Îles (including Pointe-Noire) handled 20.0 million tonnes in 2002, virtually unchanged. A gain in international cargo was due mainly to higher shipments of iron ores and concentrates to the United States. Domestic cargo handled at Sept-Îles/Pointe-Noire declined due mainly to a strong drop in shipments of iron ores and concentrates to Hamilton.
- The port of Montreal (including Contrecoeur) handled 18.3 million tonnes of cargo, down 2.9%, due mainly to fewer shipments of fuel oils, wheat and fertilizers, excluding potash. The number of international containers handled by the port rose 6.6%.
- The port of Québec (including Lévis) handled 17.9 million tonnes, up 17.7%. International cargo accounted for nearly 81% of the total. Foreign cargo rose in the wake of higher inbound shipments of crude petroleum from Africa and Europe and increased tonnage of iron ores and concentrates arriving from Brazil and transhipped through Québec to US Great Lakes.
- The total tonnage handled at the port of Halifax fell 7.6% to 12.9 million tonnes. International cargo, which accounted for 81.5% of the total cargo, was down because of lower receipts of crude petroleum from Europe and South America.
- Hamilton handled 11.7 million tonnes of marine cargo, up 10.4%. Its international traffic rose due to increased inbound shipments of iron ores and concentrates from the US Great Lakes region, and inbound iron and steel, mainly from South America and Europe. Hamilton’s inbound coal shipments from the United States were down 7.9%.
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