Canada’s importance in the world is a lot greater than many may perceive. With the world’s third largest proven petroleum reserves and the fourth largest exporter of petroleum, Canada is the 12th largest export economy in the world. And Canada’s ports are extremely important to it’s economical growth.
Port Metro Vancouver is one of Canada’s largest port that handles more than 50% of all container cargo. In 2017, Port Metro Vancouver handled 2.7 million units of containers. Ports Prince Rupert and Halifax handled approximately 2.3 million. To maintain the flow of traffic, Vancouver is improving the infrastructure with a $700 million investment. The port’s main terminal TSI Terminal Systems’ Delta port handles 70% of container volumes. The ports officials are in the early stages of planning Roberts Bank 2. This would be a new terminal that would handled 2.4 million TEUs of annual freight.
Canada’s fastest growing port has been Prince Rupert. The port is located 350 miles north of Vancouver and was opened in 2007 as a ship-to-rail transfer port. This port became a success with containerized shipments rising by double-digit percentages during the past six years. The benefits of Prince Rupert’s import cargo are the U.S. Harbor Maintenance Tax on value shipments whose destination would be to the United States. Shippers cite CN Rail stack train service to Chicago and other points within the U.S. The containers are deliver in 100 hours to Chicago. This port participates with the U.S. and Canadian customs agencies in the Beyond the Border project. This allows the all imports that are U.S. bound to be screened and examined by the Canadian Border Services Agency on behalf of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection making the shipment even quicker.
Port of Halifax is Canada’s easternmost major container port that grew by 17.4%. More growth is anticipated by June due to the G6 Alliance service from Asia via Suez Canal. All of the Asian shipments that arrive in Halifax through the Suez Canal compose 48% of the port’s cargo. Two-thirds of the containers at Halifax move by the CN Rail to and from points in Canada and Midwest United States. The two terminals in the port which are called Halterm and Fairview have an on-dock rail ramps. With an $35 million pier extension and three cranes capable of reaching across ships that are wider than the current Panama Canal locks, the amount of freight passing through these terminals is expected to increase.
According to International Monetary Fund, the Canada’s economy is expected to grow by 2.3% this year (2018) and by 2% next year (2019).
Ramon Insurance has been the leading insurance provider in Canada offering direct insurance in leading cities such as Montreal Toronto and Vancouver. Check us out at www.freightinsurancedirect.com
Written by Iris Arden (Ramon Inc.)
Sources: https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/americas/canada
https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/can/
http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/imf-hikes-forecast-for-canadian-economic-growth
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