VICTORIA – Statistics Canada’s latest international merchandise trade report brought continued positive news to British Columbia’s importers, as total imports rose 3.7% in December to a record $57.7 billion.
British Columbia’s exports totaled $53.9 billion in 2021, a 35% increase year-over-year. This is the highest amount ever recorded in B.C.
Over the first 6 months of 2021, outbound shipping tonnage from Port Metro Vancouver increased by more than 7% over the same period in 2020, for a record high of 76.4 million metric tonnes (MMT).
There was a high demand for Canadian grain products which resulted in a record mid-year volume of bulk grain, up 20% to 16.5 MMT compared to mid-year 2020 and up 35% from 2019. Total foreign tonnage and foreign exports resulted in 60.3 and 52.0 MMT, up 4% respectively, compared to mid-year 2020 volumes, due to strong increases in grain and coal.
To ensure the Port of Vancouver can meet the increasing demand for container trade, the port authority is advancing two container terminal projects. This means that there will also be an increase in the demand for jobs in international trade in the coming years.
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