VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — The Port of Vancouver’s cargo movement through the port in 2020 jumped slightly, with new annual records in grain, potash and containers.

A total of 145.5 million tonnes of cargo was moved through the port in 2020, which compared with 144.2 million tonnnes in 2019.

Grain shipments via both bulk ships and container set a new record of 35.1 million tonnes, a 24% increase compared with the previous year. Increases in wheat, up 25%, canola, up 45%, and specialty crops, up 12%, contributed to the record.

Shipping container quantities also set a record in 2020, with a total of 3.5 million TEUs, an increase of 2% compared with the previous year. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is expecting continued growth in this sector.

“Trade is continuing to grow and a core part of our role as a Canada Port Authority is to ensure the port infrastructure is there to handle what Canada wants to trade,” said Robin Silvester, president and chief executive officer of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. “By investing to build the necessary capacity to accommodate increasing trade growth, we are supporting all port users, including farmers, businesses, and industry who rely on the port to move their goods efficiently and remain competitive. This is critical to the long-term economic viability of this gateway and of Canada.”

The port authority is working with industry and government partners across the Lower Mainland to develop more than C$1 billion worth of infrastructure projects, including two container terminal projects and a number of road and rail infrastructure projects.

“The efficient movement of goods through the port during the challenging circumstances of this past year was only possible thanks to the dedicated efforts of marine carriers and pilots, longshore workers, terminal operators, railway workers, trucking companies and drivers, along with many others who make up the port community,” Silvester said. “We appreciate the work these groups, and all stakeholders and partners, including Indigenous Groups, labor and government, have done to keep the port open round the clock, day in and day out. They have helped keep Canadians across the country supplied with essential goods. It is the port community that is the driving factor in showcasing — and amplifying — the value that Canada’s largest port brings to this region, and to the country.”