Port of Prince Rupert moved 23.1M tonnes of cargo in 2024 amid historic expansion phase

The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) announced today that 23.1 million tonnes of cargo moved through the Port of Prince Rupert in 2024, reflecting a one percent decline compared to 2023.

Intermodal volumes at DP World Prince Rupert’s Fairview Container Terminal rose five percent year-over-year. Performance was impacted by the realignment of carriers’ transpacific trade routes, two labour disruptions, and the brief suspension of rail service due to wildfire that paused terminal operations.

Strong demand for western Canadian energy products saw AltaGas’ Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal ship 2.3 million tonnes of liquified petroleum gas (LPG), representing a 15 percent increase year-over-year. Pembina’s Watson Island LPG Bulk Terminal handled 502,800 tonnes. Drax’s Westview Wood Pellet Terminal shipped 1.2 million tonnes of biofuel to markets in Europe and Asia.  

Following a strong crop year, Prince Rupert Grain Terminal saw a 26 percent increase in exports, handling over 4.5 million tonnes of western Canadian agricultural products. Total coal export volumes fell 23 percent at Trigon Pacific Terminals, with metallurgical and thermal coal exports down 29 and 22 percent. Cruise passenger volumes decreased 27 percent compared to 2023, with over 59,400 cruise passengers transiting through Prince Rupert in 2024.

Despite this slight decrease in annual volumes, the Prince Rupert Gateway is improving competitiveness and actively diversifying through the development of new terminal and logistics capacity, building greater resiliency against market fluctuations. In 2024, the Port marked considerable progress on multiple strategic projects that set the stage for long-term growth and sustainability. These developments total over $2.5 billion in capital investment and are essential to strengthening and diversifying exports, maximizing supply chain efficiency, and restoring cargo volumes.

“The 2024 results highlight the critical nature of the ongoing projects that will advance Prince Rupert as a full-service port and affirm our position as a key player in global trade and energy security,” said Shaun Stevenson, President and CEO, Prince Rupert Port Authority. “An historic period of expansion is taking place at the Port of Prince Rupert, and 2024 was a pivotal year of development as we made strides towards enhancing services, capacity, and capabilities and diversifying markets to maintain our competitive edge and support our trade partners.”

Beyond terminal performance, multiple major project milestones were met in 2024, building the foundation for future growth and diversification of the trade gateway:

• Construction commenced on the Ridley Island Energy Export Facility (REEF), a large-scale LPG and bulk liquids export terminal. The $1.35 billion AltaGas and Vopak joint venture reached a final investment decision in Q2 2024. REEF will significantly strengthen Canadian energy exports to the Asia Pacific, with an initial development phase that includes approximately 55,000 barrels per day of LPG export capacity and 600,000 barrels of LPG storage.
• The Canada Infrastructure Bank reached financial close on a $150 million loan to PRPA for the first phase of CANXPORT in Q2 2024 and construction is well underway. The large-scale export logistics and transloading facility will be constructed and operated by Ray-Mont Logistics to provide 400,000 TEUs of annual capacity for forestry, agricultural, and resin products, and significantly increase competitiveness and container movements, while bringing greater stability to intermodal trade.
• Trigon Pacific Terminals made significant progress on construction of its second marine berth. The Berth Two Beyond Carbon project will add significant vessel berth capacity to the terminal. The marine infrastructure is expected to be completed in 2025.