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The Port of Halifax is a multi-service port with five areas of business: Breakbulk, Bulk, Containerized and Roll on/Roll off cargo plus cruise activity.

• Latest Quarter
• 2009 Year-End Summary of Cargo & Cruise Activity
• Year-by-year
• 5-year Summaries
• Long-term Trends

Q2 2010 Summary of Cargo & Cruise Activity

The Port of Halifax continues to track its cargo throughput carefully, mindful of conflicting predictions of a full worldwide economic recovery and the resulting impacts on imports and exports in all cargo sectors. While breakbulk, containerized and roll-on/roll-off cargo recorded quarterly positive variance versus Q2 2009, the bulk sector continued to lag due to the underlying pressures on worldwide raw materials demand. Bulk tonnage declines contributed to an overall quarterly tonnage decrease for the port.

Notwithstanding diminished bulk throughput this quarter, containerized cargo volumes continued to be healthy with a 28.4% gain versus the same quarter last year. Both containerized imports and exports rose substantially compared to last year, consistent with other North American ports. Increased consumer demand, continuing low inflation and strong exports have helped to fuel container cargo throughput, yet – according to shipping consultancy Dynamar Overseas Inc. – the financial woes of the European Union, mixed signals on the strength of the economic recovery and a leveling-off of inventories suggests that a period of robust economic growth has yet to take hold.

For these reasons, many cargo analysts predict that a return to pre-recession record cargo throughput levels at Halifax – and many ports worldwide – will not be seen until 2014.

In comparing Halifax’s containerized cargo for the first six months of 2010 (205,178 TEUs) with the first half of 2009 (152,713 TEUs), throughput increased by over 52,000 TEUs (34.4%) indicating that the new vessel strings introduced over the year have had a positive impact.

Meanwhile, the port’s 2010 cruise season began this quarter and indications are that it will be another strong season with Halifax welcoming over 240,000 cruise ship passengers by the time the season ends in October.

Breakbulk

• Breakbulk cargo increased by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2010 compared to Q2 2009. Total breakbulk cargo was 34,411 MT for Q2. The increase is primarily attributable to an increase in machinery imports.

Bulk

• Bulk cargo volume declined by 27.1% to 1,261,115 MT in the second quarter of 2010 versus Q2 of 2009. The decrease in bulk throughput is attributed to a drop in crude oil imports and gypsum exports.

Container

• Combined import and export container volumes (measured in TEUs) increased by 28.4% for the quarter, as compared to Q2 2009. Total throughput for Q2 2010 was 105,728 TEUs. Container volume exports (measured in TEUs) increased by 23.4%, as compared to the same quarter one year ago, while container volume imports increased by 34.6% over Q2 2009.

Roll on/Roll off

• Ro/Ro cargo increased by 22.1% to 70,941 MT in Q2 2010, as compared to the same quarter in 2009. This was due to an increase in automobile imports and exports through the port.

Cruise

• The 2010 cruise season began on April 27th and concludes on October 30th with over 240,000 passengers expected. Halifax saw 118 cruise vessels in 2009 with 227,797 passengers on board. Click to view the 2010 cruise season schedule.

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2009 Year-End Summary of Cargo & Cruise Activity

Amidst a global recession which impacted cargo volumes, 2009 was a challenging year for the worldwide marine transportation industry. Many ports, including Halifax, experienced a continuing downturn in their cargo throughput this year. Overall, Port of Halifax cargo volume for 2009 declined 6.2%.

While Halifax’s containerized cargo volume dropped by 11.0% (measured in TEUs) in 2009, the percentage drop was far less than for year-end 2008. In the recessionary period it was not uncommon for ports across North America and worldwide to see containerized volumes decline by more than 15-20%.

Indeed, as the year progressed containerized cargo throughput at the Port of Halifax steadily improved. For instance, for the second half of 2009, overall containerized cargo growth was 4.2% over the second half of 2008.In the second half of 2009, containerized cargo increased by 25.8% over the first six months of 2009.

Over-and-above regular seasonal fluctuations, containerized cargo growth in the second half of 2009 was driven by the addition of several new container lines as well as increased throughput on existing lines, especially for export cargo. While ports worldwide are experiencing better volumes, industry experts predict that a return to record-breaking volumes might not be realized until mid-decade.

Containerized Cargo Highlights in 2009

• New services via 5 new shipping lines: CMA-CGM, CKYH Alliance (COSCO, K Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin)
• Maersk returned for a 27-week period
• Melfi returned after switching to Montreal
• Two direct calls with Vietnam introduced (Grand Alliance and CKYH)

Breakbulk

• Breakbulk cargo declined by 35.7% during 2009 to 110,120 MT

Bulk

• Bulk cargo declined by 1.6% during 2009 to 6,523,019 MT

Container

• Containerized volume declined by 11.0% during 2009 to 344,811 TEUs

Roll on/Roll off

• Roll on/Roll off cargo declined by 16.6% during 2009 to 236,428 MT

Cruise

• Halifax saw 118 cruise vessels visit in 2009
• 227,797 cruise passengers and 94,843 crew were on board
• Five cruise ships made inaugural calls to the Port of Halifax
• Twenty cruise lines called Halifax including two first-time lines
• The 2010 cruise season schedule will be available in March 2010

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Historical Data

• Year-by-year
• 5-year Summaries
• Long-term Trend

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