Saint John Port Authority 22nd Annual General Meeting

Earlier today, Saint John Port Authority hosted its twenty-second annual general meeting at the Marco Polo Cruise Terminal, and via livestream.

Board Chair, Lisa Keenan and CEO, Craig Bell Estabrooks shared details of 2021’s fiscal year with over 55 attendees in person, and 34 virtually.

Overall cargo tonnage at Port Saint John for the year 2021 was 28.8 metric tonnes (MT), an 11% increase over 2020.

In the container sector, the Port experienced its fifth consecutive year of growth in both TEUs and tonnage throughput. Containers rose year-over-year to 86,949 TEUs (10% over 2021) with tonnage increasing to 617,312 MT (6% over 2021).

In other cargo sectors, dry bulk cargoes increased to 1.9 million metric tonnes in 2021 (123% increase over 2021), with two commodities being predominately responsible for the growth, potash and recycled metal.  Potash more than doubled year-over-year rising from 619,230 MT in 2020 to 1.6 million MT in 2021, while recycled metal cargoes grew by 46% as compared to 2020 volumes.  (For more details see January 13, 2021 Tonnage Media Release)

“While our annual meeting is a time to look at our past performance, we at Port Saint John are ever-focused on what comes next.  For us what comes next is enhancing this gateway to provide even greater supply chain resiliency on Canada’s East Coast as we respond to private sector demand for capacity up to 800,000 TEUs per year,” said Port CEO Craig Bell Estabrooks.

Collaboration with supply chain partners to maximize the use Port Saint John infrastructure continues to produce results. An example is the attraction of another Hapag-Lloyd’s original Mediterranean service to Saint John in May of 2021 which has since grown to include a second offering (North Europe Express) in 2022. Three of the world’s top container lines now regularly call Saint John on a weekly basis: MSC, CMA-CGM, and Hapag-Lloyd.

The CEO also noted Construction on the West Side Modernization Project, within DP World’s multi-purpose cargo terminal, continued to progress toward completion by early 2023, while the recently announced enhanced modernize project will complete in 2024.

You can find the annual report, and audited financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2021 here.

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About Port Saint John:

Port Saint John is Atlantic Canada’s largest port by tonnage and has a diverse cargo base, including dry and liquid bulk, break bulk, containers, and cruise. 

Media Contact:  

Jane Burchill, Communications & Sustainability Specialist, Port Saint John, jburchill@sjport.com, (506)343-3707