Halifax container volumes rise as shippers look to avoid Montreal port strikes

Houston — The Port of Montreal lost container volumes to the competing East Coast Canada Port of Halifax in the lead up to a series of partial strikes by Montreal port workers starting last week.

Total throughput at the Port of Montreal in the first quarter fell 0.1% from the previous year to 413,249 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), while total volumes at Halifax rose 26% to 72,240 TEUs over the same period.

"For once in its history, the Port of Montreal is posting results that pale in comparison to its competitors on the US East Coast, who are enjoying significant growth," said Martin Imbleau, president and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority.

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From April 17 onwards, the dockworkers union Canadian Union of Public Employees, or CUPE, 375 has refused to work weekend shifts at the busiest port on Canada's East Coast until its demands are met by the Maritime Employers Association, or MEA.

The union has been without a contract with the MEA since 2018 and held a full strike for 12 days last year until the parties reached a seven-month truce that expired in March. The backlog of containers piling up at the port from that strike took months to clear.

"The current labor dispute means that port operations will only be partially available and capacities will be slashed. "The Port is being hit by a climate of uncertainty incompatible with a shipping industry that must choose to divert its vessels to provide a minimum of reliability."

Shippers are avoiding Montreal while a surge in demand for imports has benefitted other North American ports. The most recent data from The Port of New York and New Jersey, which also competes with Montreal for cargoes, showed container volumes increased by 13% in January-February from the same period last year.

"Freight forwarders are trying to avoid delays at Montreal and are changing destinations to Halifax or New York instead," a Montreal-based logistics consultant said. "It's going to be hard to get customers to return to Montreal."