Mar.13--US WEST coast congestion has been credited for a 56 per cent year-on-year increase in container throughput to 55,941 TEU in February at the Canadian Port of Prince Rupert, 750 kilometres north of Vancouver.
For the first two months of the year, Prince Rupert has handled 37.4 per cent more cargo than the same period a year ago.
During the nadir of the US port slowdown in January, Prince Rupert's container business picked up 23 per cent year on year, while traffic at Los Angeles dropped 22.8 per cent, fell 18.8 per cent at Long Beach, 32 per cent at Oakland and 13 per cent at Seattle/Tacoma.
Several major companies have publicly indicated they were re-routing some cargo through Prince Rupert to avoid the bottlenecks at US west coast ports, noted American Shipper.
(Source:shippingazette)