Among Canada’s four largest ocean ports, only the Port of Prince Rupert is reporting an increase in freight volumes in 2009 over 2008 numbers.

The Port of Prince Rupert says it handled 15 per cent more overall freight last year, its highest volume throughput in 12 years.

Freight volumes were down 12 per cent at the Port of Montreal, down 11 per cent at the Port of Vancouver, and down 6.2 per cent at the Port of Halifax.

“Amidst a global recession which impacted cargo volumes, 2009 was a challenging year for the worldwide marine transportation industry,” says a release from the Port of Halifax.

It says containerized cargo volume at the Port of Halifax dropped by 11.0% in 2009, with steady improvements in the second half of the year making up for even steeper declines in the first half.

Statistics from the Port of Montreal indicate that market diversification helped curb the effects of the economic downturn. It handled 24.5 million tonnes of cargo in 2009.

While the total amount of containerized cargo was down 15.4 per cent from 2008, container traffic with the Mediterranean increased 5.5 per cent.

Similarly, marine grain traffic through the port was up 14.7 per cent over 2008. Overall throughput at the port’s grain terminal (ships, trains and trucks) totalled 2.42 million tonnes in 2009, up 4.4 per cent over the previous year.

“The diversification of our markets puts the Port of Montreal in a strong position to benefit from the economic recovery,” said Sylvie Vachon, president and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority. “Moreover, recent growth in certain types of dry bulk cargo traffic, such as iron ore, could be a harbinger of economic recovery.”

The volume of bulk cargo moving through the port decreased by 8.7 per cent to total slightly more than 13 million tonnes in 2009. The volume of petroleum products traffic remained essentially the same, up 0.4 per cent.

At Port Metro Vancouver, tonnage was down 11 per cent in 2009, with container traffic decreasing 14 per cent. Nevertheless, the port saw growth in the grain, and liquid bulk sectors.

“At the end of a challenging and turbulent year, we’re pleased to see gains in some principal Canadian exports, such as grain, specialty crops and crude petroleum,” said Robin Silvester, president and CEO of Port Metro Vancouver. “Total foreign export volumes remained stable over the year, which reflects solid demand for high-quality Canadian commodities and underpins the port’s value as Canada’s most important gateway to international trade.”

The story was brightest at the Port of Prince Rupert, which posted its highest volume throughput in 12 years.

The higher volumes in 2009 were not driven by one line of business. Rather, numbers were up in the container and grain sectors, the Prince Rupert Port Authority said.

In the bulk sector, Prince Rupert Grain volumes jumped 35.1 per cent to 5.08 million tonnes, the terminal’s highest throughput since 1994. Wheat shipments were up 55.8 per cent to 4.64 million tonnes, offsetting decreases in volumes of barley, canola and grain pellets.