Figures released by the Prince Rupert Port Authority show Fairview Terminal continues to push toward another record year, but there has been a double-digit drop in traffic for overall tonnage handled on the North Coast.
Fairview Terminal saw a 45.64 per cent increase in tonnage this May compared to last, climbing from 51,416 TEUs to 74,881 TEUs, with imports up 35.66 per cent from 29,475 TEUs to 39,985 TEUs and exports up 59.05 per cent to sit at 34,986 TEUs, driven by a small increase in loaded exports and a 155.99 per cent increase in empty containers leaving.
So far this year Fairview Terminal has seen an increase of 42.82 per cent, from 228,227.50 TEUs through the first five months of 2014 to 325,963 TEUs through the end of May, 2014. Exports are up 34.96 per cent, rising from 135,595 TEUs to 182,997.75 TEUs, while imports are up 54.34 per cent driven by a significant increase in empty container movement and a 7.22 per cent increase in loaded containers leaving the terminal.
Products moving through the harbour were up more than 3,000 per cent last month driven by the export of 35,072 tonnes of logs and the offloading of 516.66 tonnes of cargo. So far this year, tonnage through the harbour is up 34.58 per cent, climbing from 155,542.35 tonnes to 209,334.30 tonnes in 2015.
While Westview Terminal shipped 60 per cent fewer tonnes of wood pellets in May, the terminal has experienced year-over-year growth of 37.91 per cent, with exports reaching 252,435 tonnes compared to 183,040 tonnes last year.
Ridley Terminal continued to see a decline in coal volumes in May, with tonnage falling 44.93 per cent from 830,659 tonnes last May to 456,446 tonnes this May. So far this year the terminal has experienced a decline of 50.25 per cent in export volumes, falling from 3.74 million tonnes through the first five months of 2014 to 1.85 million tonnes through to the end of May, 2015.
Prince Rupert Grain also experienced a drop in tonnage both month-over-month and year-over-year. The terminal moved 438,581.55 tonnes of grain in May compared to 683,164.14 tonnes last May, a drop of 35.8 per cent. So far this year the terminal has moved 2.55 million tonnes of grain compared to 2.76 million tonnes through the first five months of 2014, a drop of 7.7 per cent.
Overall tonnage through the Port of Prince Rupert was down 18.24 per cent this May, while so far this year the numbers show a drop of 10.88 per cent from 9.13 million tonnes last year to 8.14 million tonnes this year.
