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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
• 2008 Summary of Cargo & Cruise Statistics
• Year-by-year
• 5-year Summaries
• Long-term Trends

Q3 2009 Summary of Cargo & Cruise Activity

The sluggishness of the global economy continues to suppress significant  growth in import and export cargo volumes at the Port of Halifax as well as ports worldwide. 

Halifax’s volumes experienced moderate improvement in the third quarter, although the port is still recording declines in volumes from year-to-date 2008. 

All four areas of cargo activity at the Port of Halifax have been impacted by a lack of demand in the areas of containerized, bulk, breakbulk and roll-on/roll-off cargo this quarter.    

Global Industry Context

In its review of world shipping trends, Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd. has recently noted the following about containerized cargo:

• Container activity declined year-over-year by 26% in the United States, 21% in Latin America, 19% in North Europe, and 12% in South East Asia.

• This time of year is traditionally peak season when retailers stock up.  Therefore, some improvement in port volumes worldwide is characterized as a “false recovery”.  

• “2009 is already and will remain a truly horrific year…We don’t like to put too much of a dampener on the future, but 2010 and beyond is not looking bright at all, even if global demand does recover to some extent in the next 12 months."

• “The US economy seems reluctant to come out of recession and consumers have not returned to their previous buying habits.” 

Port of Halifax Statistics - Q3 2009

Breakbulk

• Breakbulk cargo declined by 14.1% in the third quarter of 2009, as compared to the same period in 2008.  Total breakbulk cargo was 28,316 MT for Q3.  Breakbulk export gains were realized with forest products.  Import and export declines were recorded in metal products and machinery.

Bulk

• Bulk cargo declined (down 24.4%) in the third quarter to 1,429,456 MT versus Q3 2008.  Even though imports in grain bulk commodities were up over 107%, other bulk import commodities (including crude and refined oil), as well as bulk export,s were down compared to the same quarter last year, resulting in an overall decline in bulk throughput this quarter.

Container

• Combined import and export container volumes (measured in TEUs) declined 7.0% for the quarter, as compared to Q3 2008.  Year-to-date, containerized cargo is down 19%.   Containerized cargo exports (measured in TEUs) increased by 0.1% this quarter.  The pace of decline has slowed and is consistent with North American port containerized cargo throughput trends.

Roll on/Roll off

• Ro/Ro cargo declined 5.3% (compared to Q3 2008) to 64,053 MT.   Imports and exports of automobiles through the port were significantly lower in the quarter as compared to the same period one year ago, which is consistent with the overall economic downturn, although the degree of decline in this sector has lessened.

Cruise

The 2009 cruise season began on May 15th and is scheduled to conclude on November 5th.  September and October are the most active months traditionally for cruise.   Since the beginning of this year’s cruise season until the end of September, 71 cruise vessels had called at Halifax with almost 145,000 passengers on board. Approximately 120 vessels with 215,000-220,000 passengers are expected to call during the full cruise season. Click to view the 2009 cruise season schedule.

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2008 Year-End Summary of Cargo & Cruise Activity

In 2008, the Port experienced growth in three areas of business (cruise, breakbulk and roll on/roll off cargo) while activity declined in two areas (container and bulk cargo). 

Cargo

Ports are a bellwether for the health of the economy with imports and exports driven by demand. Several factors were at play in 2008 that impacted customers utilizing the Port of Halifax for cargo. These included the international and North American economic recessions, frozen credit facilities globally, the volatility in the Canadian dollar and bunker fuel prices, and continued consolidation in the shipping line industry.

A number of international cargo markets continue to show promise for the Port of Halifax.  In 2008, markets including China, South and Southeast Asia and the Caribbean continue to trend in a positive direction.

Breakbulk

• Breakbulk cargo grew by 12.1% during 2008.

Bulk

• Bulk cargo declined by 12.9% during 2008.

Containerized

• Container volumes declined by 21%, to a total of 387,347 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units).

Roll on/Roll off

• Roll on/Roll off cargo increased by 15.8% during 2008.

Cruise

Record cruise activity in 2008 with a 35% increase in cruise ship calls.

• A total of 125 vessels calls between April and November.
• A 29% increase in passengers with an additional 50,000 passengers. 
• A record 228,133 cruise passengers and 98,565 crew. 
• Ten new cruise ships introduced to the Port of Halifax in 2008.
• A total of 18 cruise lines called Halifax including four that called for the first time.

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Historical Data

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

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