NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — Fraser River Ports 2006 cargo volumes declined 8% from last year to 35,897,566 tonnes. The total includes 4,005,370 tonnes of international shipments and a 4% decline in domestic shipping to 31,892,196 tonnes.

Despite overall declines, international wood product imports continued to grow including lumber, which displayed an increase of 170% to 13,590 tonnes for the year and pulp posted 3,886 tonnes more than last year. Steel imports also increased by 25% in 2006 to 992,319 tonnes.

Auto shipments through the ports terminals continued to climb to a year-to-date total of 465,092 units increasing 3% over last year.

Container traffic declined 75% in 2006 to 94,651 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) for the year. According to the port, the drop in TEUs can be pinpointed to consolidations and reallocation of container traffic in the Northwest.

Domestic inbound lumber increased 94% to 136,500 tonnes in 2006; a difference of 66,000 tonnes compared to 2005. Wood chips also increased 73% to a total of 368,750 tonnes for the year. Outbound domestic aggregates increased 50% to 484,500 tonnes and steel by 23% to 352,254 tonnes.

Ship arrivals to the Port dropped to 598 for the year, a 14% decline from 2005.