CANADA's west coast Port of prince Rupert has begun construction of a rail-to-container transloading facility to increase the port's agricultural, forestry and resin capacity, reports New York's Journal of Commerce.
The project will consist of a 108-acre greenfield development on Ridley Island and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2026. Ray-Mont Logistics will develop and operate the facility, which will provide transloading capacity for 400,000 TEU a year. Ray-Mont currently operates a transloading facility on a temporary Ridley Island location.
The temporary facility will transition to the permanent Ridley Island Export Logistics Project (RIELP), which will provide significantly more transload capacity, said Brian Friesen, vice president of trade development at the Prince Rupert Port Authority.
'It will be enormous in size and scale - 10 times the size of the temporary one,' Mr Friesen said.
The C$750 million (US$547 million) project will help import-heavy Prince Rupert establish a more balanced import-export flow, Mr Friesen said.
The import-export ratio has varied over time. Ten years ago, imports outnumbered exports two to one. In pre-pandemic 2019, exports accounted for 25 to 30 per cent of the port's total container volume. This year, exports are in the low-30 per cent range.
'So we still have a long way to go,' he said.
The project will include Prince Rupert developing a road-rail utility corridor that will connect the new transload facility with Fairview Container Terminal, giving unit trains 10,000 feet in length direct access to the site from the Canadian National Railway network.
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The project will consist of a 108-acre greenfield development on Ridley Island and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2026. Ray-Mont Logistics will develop and operate the facility, which will provide transloading capacity for 400,000 TEU a year. Ray-Mont currently operates a transloading facility on a temporary Ridley Island location.
The temporary facility will transition to the permanent Ridley Island Export Logistics Project (RIELP), which will provide significantly more transload capacity, said Brian Friesen, vice president of trade development at the Prince Rupert Port Authority.
'It will be enormous in size and scale - 10 times the size of the temporary one,' Mr Friesen said.
The C$750 million (US$547 million) project will help import-heavy Prince Rupert establish a more balanced import-export flow, Mr Friesen said.
The import-export ratio has varied over time. Ten years ago, imports outnumbered exports two to one. In pre-pandemic 2019, exports accounted for 25 to 30 per cent of the port's total container volume. This year, exports are in the low-30 per cent range.
'So we still have a long way to go,' he said.
The project will include Prince Rupert developing a road-rail utility corridor that will connect the new transload facility with Fairview Container Terminal, giving unit trains 10,000 feet in length direct access to the site from the Canadian National Railway network.
SeaNews Turkey