Cargo volumes at Canada’s largest port fell by three percent last year as the global economy began to show signs of a slowdown.
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said Monday that grain and fertilizer exports surged in the second half of 2022, but the gains were not enough to offset a sputtering start to the year caused by a weak 2021 harvest and lingering supply chain problems.
After more than a year of rising container traffic, imports also fell by four percent amid softer consumer demand and overstocked inventories, said port authority CEO Robin Silvester in a phone interview.
Despite the decrease, he stressed that more capacity is “desperately needed” due to rising trade and population forecasts. A new container terminal that would boost that capacity by nearly 50 percent, dubbed the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project, received federal cabinet approval last month but still requires various permits to proceed….