Canada’s largest seaport plans to nearly quadruple the number of containers it handles on the West Coast.
That’s good news for special crops exporters and others in agriculture who use shipping containers.
The Port of Vancouver is spending $1.2 billion over the next 16 years to expand its three container terminals and open two new ones.
“Our container traffic is the gem in our future,” said Vancouver Port Authority chief executive officer Gordon Houston in a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade last November.
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“Any business would pay strict attention to something that was 25 percent of their revenue,” he said.
The Port of Vancouver handled 1.54 million containers last year. Another 250,000 moved through the Fraser River Port. Houston expects the two British Columbia ports to handle 6.3 million units by 2020.
A growing number of agricultural commodity shippers use the six-metre-long metal boxes to move their product. The specialty grains industry alone exported nearly one million tonnes of crops through the Port of Vancouver in 2003.
A 2002 Saskatchewan Agriculture survey of special crops processors found that more than half of their product moved by container or in bags that are eventually loaded into containers at port position.
Canadian Special Crops Association director Scott Cunningham said the planned improvements should benefit shippers and producers of crops such as pulses, canaryseed and mustard.
“Any time they can improve efficiencies of the system without adding cost it’s going to be beneficial for everybody all the way down the line.”
He is particularly excited about improved container availability.
“Canada missed a lot of exporting business (this year) because of container shortages,” said Cunningham.
The port is expected to add 360,000 units at its Burrard Inlet terminals by 2005.
Patrick McLaughlin, the Vancouver Port Authority’s director of container development, said the phenomenal growth of China’s manufacturing sector is leading to increased Asian exports, which is driving the soaring demand for containers.
As that trend continues, he expects the number of containers flowing into Canada from China will outpace what Canadian exporters require.
“There will be more empty containers available for exports in the future.”
Shipments out of Cunningham’s two SaskCan Pulse Trading Inc. plants in Regina are either bagged or placed in source-loaded containers.
“We don’t even ship any bulk product out of our facilities,” he said.
Special crops aren’t the only agricultural commodities moving by container. In addition to beef and pork, a lot of barley and canola is exported that way.
Canola Council of Canada president Barb Isman said that’s particularly true lately because rising ocean freight rates have driven up the cost of moving commodities in bulk compared to container shipments.
“I think we’ve seen some business move on containers because of those economics.”
The canola industry’s identity preservation programs could also increase container demand. The industry anticipates a growing consumer desire for varieties that offer specific uses and qualities. Those crops will have to shipped separately and not mixed with other types of canola in 50,000-tonne shipments.
Isman commended the port for addressing the need for more container traffic.
“As long as it doesn’t end up in some way creating reduced commitment to the traditional grain handling business, then great,” she said.
