Shipments of coal from U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes ports totaled 3.9 million net tons in April, an increase of 15.6 percent compared to a year ago. The increase largely reflects better sailing conditions this April. The harsh winter of 2002/2003 slowed the resumption of all dry-bulk trades. Compared to the month's 5-year average, this April is up only marginally.

For the year, the Lakes coal trade stands at 6.6 million tons, an increase of more than 2 million tons compared to the same point in 2003 and 330,000 tons ahead of the 5-year average for the January-April timeframe. The strongest gains have come in shipments of western coal from Superior, Wisconsin, Thunder Bay, Ontario, and South Chicago. The eastern coal trade out of Lake Erie ports, while up 300,000 tons compared to ice-impacted 2003, is significantly behind its 5-year average.

Great Lakes Coal Trade - April 2004

Great Lakes Coal Shipments: April 2000-2004 and 5-Year Average
Net Tons
	April	April	April	April	April	5-Year
Port	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Average
Superior	1,573,126	1,706,333	1,782,570	1,384,475	1,683,993	1,626,099
Thunder Bay	84,486	81,693	191,168	135,883	124,074	123,461
Total - Lake Superior	1,657,612	1,788,026	1,973,738	1,520,358	1,808,067	1,749,560
South Chicago	224,501	276,955	216,962	210,479	417,384	269,256
Total - Lake Michigan	224,501	276,955	216,962	210,479	417,384	269,256
Toledo	615,431	409,220	512,829	340,064	320,859	439,681
Sandusky	435,649	326,919	514,181	320,669	402,844	400,052
Ashtabula	727,831	430,967	477,982	452,501	557,990	529,454
Conneaut	524,027	536,534	479,004	464,215	414,320	483,620
Total - Lake Erie	2,302,938	1,703,640	1,983,996	1,577,449	1,696,013	1,852,807
Total - All Lakes	4,185,051	3,768,621	4,174,696	3,308,286	3,921,464	3,871,624

Great Lakes Coal Shipments: Year-To-Date 2000-2004 And 5-Year Average
Net Tons
						5-Year
Port	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Average
Superior	2,335,081	2,466,319	2,196,520	1,545,969	2,708,646	2,250,507
Thunder Bay	84,486	81,693	221,134	135,883	284,919	161,623
Total - Lake Superior	2,419,567	2,548,012	2,417,654	1,681,852	2,993,565	2,412,130
South Chicago	273,362	435,900	360,796	284,663	705,940	412,132
Total - Lake Michigan	273,362	435,900	360,796	284,663	705,940	412,132
Toledo	728,599	433,644	731,600	395,040	390,414	535,859
Sandusky	556,343	540,567	675,024	349,347	508,571	525,970
Ashtabula	1,393,357	1,091,432	1,033,574	1,060,630	937,989	1,103,396
Conneaut	1,193,893	2,060,632	1,194,928	762,935	1,035,108	1,249,499
Total - Lake Erie	3,872,192	4,126,275	3,635,126	2,567,952	2,872,082	3,414,725
Total - All Lakes	6,565,121	7,110,187	6,413,576	4,534,467	6,571,587	6,238,988

Note: Thunder Bay's year-to-date total for 2004 has been amended to reflect the 75,123 tons shipped in March.