Shipments of coal on the Great Lakes totaled 4.6 million net tons in May, an increase of 8.3 percent compared to a year ago. However, when compared to the month's 5-year average, this May represents only a marginal increase.

Shipments of western coal from Lake Superior ports - 2.4 million net tons - rose more than 14 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. The increase is even greater - 17 percent - when compared to the 5-year average.

Shipments of eastern coal from Lake Erie ports continued to slump in May. Loadings totaled 1.7 million net tons, a decrease of 3.3 percent compared to a year ago, and a drop of nearly 17 percent compared to the month's 5-year average.

For the year, the Great Lakes coal trade stands at 11.2 million net tons, an increase of 27.2 percent compared to the same point in weather-impacted 2003, and 4 percent compared to the 5-year average of the January-May timeframe.

Great Lakes Coal Shipments: May 2000-2004 and 5-Year Average
Net Tons
	May	May	May	May	May	5-Year
Port	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Average
Superior	1,888,257	1,928,280	1,668,137	1,988,224	2,216,314	1,937,842
Thunder Bay	57,472	117,985	163,907	137,824	211,074	137,652
Total - Lake Superior	1,945,729	2,046,265	1,832,044	2,126,048	2,427,388	2,075,495
South Chicago	203,955	306,642	409,321	307,090	417,384	328,878
Total - Lake Michigan	203,955	306,642	409,321	307,090	417,384	328,878
Toledo	618,444	457,365	552,205	316,768	383,370	465,630
Sandusky	475,865	463,027	664,427	449,828	344,238	479,477
Ashtabula	697,735	646,251	582,749	569,131	472,508	593,675
Conneaut	646,967	531,250	601,731	469,000	543,933	558,576
Total - Lake Erie	2,439,011	2,097,893	2,401,112	1,804,727	1,744,049	2,097,358
Total - All Lakes	4,588,695	4,450,800	4,642,477	4,237,865	4,588,821	4,501,732

Great Lakes Coal Shipments: Year-To-Date And 5-Year Average
Net Tons
						5-Year
Port	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Average
Superior	4,223,338	4,394,599	3,864,657	3,534,193	4,924,960	4,188,349
Thunder Bay	141,958	199,678	385,041	273,707	495,993	299,275
Total - Lake Superior	4,365,296	4,594,277	4,249,698	3,807,900	5,420,953	4,487,625
South Chicago						0
Total - Lake Michigan	477,317	742,542	770,117	591,753	1,123,324	741,011
Toledo	1,347,043	891,009	1,283,805	711,808	773,784	1,001,490
Sandusky	1,032,208	1,003,594	1,339,451	799,175	852,809	1,005,447
Ashtabula	2,091,092	1,737,683	1,616,323	1,629,761	1,410,497	1,697,071
Conneaut	1,840,860	2,591,882	1,796,659	1,231,935	1,579,041	1,808,075
Total - Lake Erie	6,311,203	6,224,168	6,036,238	4,372,679	4,616,131	5,512,084
Total - All Lakes	11,153,816	11,560,987	11,056,053	8,772,332	11,160,408	10,740,719