U.S.-flag Great Lakes lakers moved 11 million tons of cargo in August – a 5 percent increase over the same month a year ago and just 3.2 percent down from a bustling July, reports the Lake Carriers’ Association in Cleveland.
Iron ore for steel production totaled 5.5 million tons – an increase of 23 percent compared to the same month a year ago. Steel mills in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio are stockpiling iron ore in an effort to outlast another potentially lingering winter.In July, iron ore movement on the Great Lakes reached a seven-year high of 7.2 million tons.
Higher water levels allowed some ships to carry 70,000 tons, but sediment clogging ports and waterways continued to prevent maximum efficiency. According to Glen Nekvasil, vice president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, the top ore loads in August were still about 3,000 tons short of what vessels were carrying in 1997, a period of near record-high water levels before the current dredging crisis.
Coal totaled 2 million tons in August, down 19 percent from a year ago. Lake Superior ports fell by 25 percent.
Shipments of limestone totaled 2.8 million tons, a decrease of 7 percent compared to last year. Duluth receives limestone, as an additive in iron ore pellets, but there is no outgoing limestone from Duluth.
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Year-to-date cargo movement stands at 49.4 million tons, a 7.7 percent decrease compared to a year ago. However, the gap is narrowing between this year and last. The gap that was caused by the long winter and ice-over on the Great Lakes had previously been as great as 45 percent in April. International shipping through the St. Lawrence Seaway system has already surpassed 2013 levels.
