On Friday, the Port Metro Vancouver announced that for the full-year 2011, the port handled 122.5 million tons--a 3.4 percent increase over 2010. While the port had a strong year a couple of the key sectors performed below par, most notably
automotive and breakbulk. The
automotive sector dropped 22 percent, attributed to major disruption in production in Japan after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The breakbulk sector declined 4.4 percent overall, although breakbulk imports surged 30 percent following strong Canadian demand for foreign steel and construction materials.