Commentary on the GCT Deltaport Berth 4 Project

The container shipping landscape in the Americas is changing. West Coast Canada container terminals can no longer expect their volumes to grow year over year.

As this recent article in Business in Vancouver indicates, West Coast port container volumes are in decline.

https://biv.com/article/2023/03/why-chinas-mexico-moves-matter-british-columbias-supply-chain-business

China is investing heavily in Mexico under its Belt and Rail Initiative.  They are building manufacturing capability and investing in logistics and port infrastructure.

Inevitably this means West Coast North American ports will no longer see much growth, if any, in their container volumes. Nowhere will this be more evident than in Vancouver that relies on handling significant volumes of US container traffic.

Full container loads handled by Vancouver area ports declined again in 2022 - down by 9%, whereas containerized cargo volume to Lazaro Cardenas, Ensenada and other West Coast Mexican ports has risen 26 per cent since 2019. With more container traffic now moving through the Panama Canal to Gulf and East Coast ports and Mexican ports’ container volumes surging the big loser is the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA).

As you may know VFPA uses UK based Drewry Shipping Consultants to assist them in developing container growth forecasts. It is Drewry, in their latest trend analyses, who are now indicating that diversion away from West Coast ports to Mexico and Gulf and East Coast ports will increase.

There is simply no need for any further port expansion on Roberts Bank.

Why waste time, effort and expense in carrying out an environmental assessment for GCT Berth 4 when there is no need for any further port expansion.

I suggest you terminate this assessment now.