Supply chains

The supply chain of import containers improved in fluidity in 2023, largely because of the cooling of macroeconomic conditions. However, it was also challenged by disruptions, notably the longshoremen strike at West Coast ports.  

The average end-to-end transit time to import a container from Shanghai to Toronto via West Coast ports improved significantly in 2023 compared to the 2022 levels. However, it remains higher than pre-pandemic levels. On average, the end-to-end transit time for import containers was 35.0 days in 2023. This is lower than the 2022 average (39.9 days) but remains slightly above the 3-year average of 34.7 days. 

Transit times peaked in July 2023 during the 13-day longshoremen strike at West Coast Ports in the late summer 2023. Transit times averaged 42.5 days when transiting through the port of Vancouver and 43.62 days through the port of Prince Rupert. The strike stopped vessel unloading and rail activity at the ports. This caused congestion and a backlog of cargo transiting through the port. Despite these challenges, Canadian ports remained time competitive with their U.S. counterparts.  

On Canada’s East Coast, import container end-to-end transit time from Antwerp to Toronto averaged 21.1 days in 2023. This is slightly below the 3-year average of 21.7 days. Lower import container volumes at East Coast ports also help explain improved end-to-end transit time.  

Container freight rates on key Canadian routes have returned to pre-pandemic levels after record peaks at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022. There is lower demand for import containers and overcapacity of ocean liners. Import container freight rates on the West Coast remained close to pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023. On the East Coast, import container freight rates remained high at the beginning of 2023 and saw a large decrease and hovered close to pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2023. 

Figure 5:  End-to-end transit time for inbound containers via West Coast ports (Shanghai to Toronto) 

Description

Line chart showing end-to-end transit time, in days, between for inbound containers travelling from Shanghai to Toronto) via Port of Prince Rupert and Port of Vancouver. Data is presented monthly for 2016 to 2023. Transit times increased from early 2020 to late 2021, peaking in January 2022.

		Prince Rupert	Vancouver	West Coast Ports
2016	Jan	23	26	25.30
	Feb	20	26	24.65
	Mar	20	25	24.23
	Apr	22	23	22.94
	May	22	23	23.08
	Jun	20	25	23.76
	Jul	21	25	23.94
	Aug	21	25	24.28
	Sep	20	24	22.93
	Oct	21	24	23.39
	Nov	19	25	24.31
	Dec	22	28	26.83
2017	Jan	21	28	26.27
	Feb	24	28	27.03
	Mar	21	25	24.45
	Apr	22	24	24.06
	May	21	25	24.33
	Jun	23	25	24.36
	Jul	23	25	24.39
	Aug	24	25	24.91
	Sep	27	25	25.52
	Oct	27	25	25.79
	Nov	26	25	25.37
	Dec	24	28	27.11
2018	Jan	26	30	28.87
	Feb	26	30	29.05
	Mar	25	32	30.25
	Apr	21	26	24.83
	May	21	26	24.97
	Jun	22	27	25.50
	Jul	24	27	26.63
	Aug	22	28	26.95
	Sep	23	28	26.86
	Oct	24	30	28.40
	Nov	25	29	28.00
	Dec	24	30	28.35
2019	Jan	23	30	28.54
	Feb	30	33	32.72
	Mar	26	30	29.21
	Apr	21	25	24.06
	May	23	24	23.95
	Jun	23	24	24.15
	Jul	24	25	24.50
	Aug	23	25	24.71
	Sep	23	24	23.96
	Oct	23	24	24.09
	Nov	25	26	25.95
	Dec	24	25	25.08
2020	Jan	26	26	26.29
	Feb	31	30	30.59
	Mar	26	27	27.11
	Apr	26	26	25.56
	May	24	26	25.49
	Jun	24	26	25.81
	Jul	27	28	27.73
	Aug	32	32	32.11
	Sep	31	34	32.97
	Oct	32	35	34.07
	Nov	36	35	34.99
	Dec	36	32	32.94
2021	Jan	33	35	34.08
	Feb	31	37	35.32
	Mar	29	36	34.02
	Apr	27	37	34.72
	May	29	36	33.92
	Jun	29	35	32.39
	Jul	27	41	36.03
	Aug	28	37	34.28
	Sep	27	31	29.79
	Oct	26	35	32.13
	Nov	29	36	34.03
	Dec	35	47	43.55
2022	Jan	48	51	49.97
	Feb	46	45	45.48
	Mar	40	41	40.74
	Apr	31	41	37.72
	May	32	41	37.70
	Jun	33	43	39.10
	Jul	36	42	40.22
	Aug	37	42	39.61
	Sep	34	39	36.69
	Oct	32	38	36.51
	Nov	32	40	37.60
	Dec	33	40	37.16
2023	Jan	36	41	39.46
	Feb	36	42	39.66
	Mar	30	38	35.56
	Apr	28	36	33.47
	May	28	35	33.14
	Jun	28	31	30.13
	Jul	42.45	43.62	42.87
	Aug	32	39	36.92
	Sep	29	35	33.08
	Oct	29	35	32.81
	Nov	28	31	29.30
	Dec	27	38	33.39

Source: Transport Canada, Class 1 Railways, Canadian Port Authorities 

Challenging growing conditions in Western Canada led to a smaller harvest, which led to reduced demand for transportation by rail and truck. The harvest for the 2023-2024 crop year was 67.2 million tonnes, around 10% less than what Western Canada grew in 2022-2023. Shipments from the Prairies were down by 9.7%, and the amount of grain exported from Western ports was 11.8% lower in the first 21 weeks of the 2023-2024 crop year.  

Western grain supply chain performance has stayed relatively stable over the last couple of years. There are some seasonal changes, such as transit times peaking during the winter months. It is measured using the end-to-end transit time to ship grain from Saskatchewan to Asia through the Port of Vancouver. 

During Winter 2023, transportation performance was not impacted by any major supply chain or weather-related disruptions. This led to similar transit time results from the previous year. End-to-end transit times for grain from Saskatchewan to China via the Port of Vancouver averaged 36.7 days in 2023, slightly below the 3-year average of 39.4 days. For grain going to Japan, the 2023 end-to-end transit time averaged 31.5 days, just below the 3-year average of 34.3 days.  

Figure 6: End-to-end transit time for grain from Saskatchewan to Asia via the Port of Vancouver  

Description

End-to-end transit time for grain from Saskatchewan to Asia via the Port of Vancouver 

Transit time is shown in days.

		Saskatchewan to China	Saskatchewan to Japan
2016	Jan	37.3	33.5
	Feb	37.6	33.5
	Mar	35.4	29.3
	Apr	35.6	30.8
	May	33.3	28.2
	Jun	30.9	26.6
	Jul	35.0	29.3
	Aug	33.8	29.7
	Sep	32.7	28.8
	Oct	37.5	32.4
	Nov	41.4	35.6
	Dec	39.3	34.4
2017	Jan	38.4	33.9
	Feb	43.1	36.3
	Mar	34.2	33.5
	Apr	36.8	30.6
	May	35.3	29.2
	Jun	39.6	32.4
	Jul	34.1	29.2
	Aug	36.5	29.9
	Sep	37.1	31.3
	Oct	36.9	34.2
	Nov	43.8	36.2
	Dec	45.9	35.8
2018	Jan	41.5	37.6
	Feb	42.9	37.3
	Mar	38.4	33.6
	Apr	39.6	34.7
	May	35.2	28.1
	Jun	35.4	29.6
	Jul	37.0	30.5
	Aug	36.9	31.4
	Sep	38.0	32.8
	Oct	37.8	31.6
	Nov	41.2	33.8
	Dec	43.5	39.0
2019	Jan	40.1	34.0
	Feb	41.8	39.0
	Mar	42.4	37.6
	Apr	36.6	32.1
	May	39.3	31.8
	Jun	35.8	32.1
	Jul	34.2	29.4
	Aug	36.9	32.4
	Sep	38.9	34.9
	Oct	39.9	33.4
	Nov	40.9	34.7
	Dec	46.8	44.0
2020	Jan	45.5	39.9
	Feb	46.0	43.0
	Mar	43.2	36.1
	Apr	38.4	35.1
	May	37.9	31.9
	Jun	40.1	33.0
	Jul	37.2	30.2
	Aug	38.8	32.3
	Sep	37.6	34.3
	Oct	38.7	35.1
	Nov	38.8	35.1
	Dec	42.7	37.4
2021	Jan	43.2	38.0
	Feb	43.7	38.9
	Mar	38.9	32.8
	Apr	35.7	31.9
	May	36.7	33.0
	Jun	34.7	30.5
	Jul	39.7	35.2
	Aug	37.2	29.7
	Sep	37.8	29.3
	Oct	40.2	32.3
	Nov	39.4	32.3
	Dec	52.5	49.6
2022	Jan	50.7	45.0
	Feb	43.0	36.6
	Mar	40.6	35.7
	Apr	41.4	33.6
	May	33.7	30.5
	Jun	37.5	32.9
	Jul	34.9	30.2
	Aug	33.4	28.7
	Sep	35.4	32.0
	Oct	31.5	28.4
	Nov	37.6	32.2
	Dec	35.0	32.3
2023	Jan	37.5	35.3
	Feb	37.8	34.6
	Mar	37.1	31.6
	Apr	39.4	34.3
	May	34.5	30.9
	Jun	31.4	26.1
	Jul	35.3	29.5
	Aug	33.0	26.8
	Sep	37.2	30.6
	Oct	38.3	30.1
	Nov	41.3	33.2
	Dec	37.1	35.3

Source: Transport Canada, Class 1 Railways, Port of Vancouver, Lloyds List intelligence