Lakes Coal Trade Down 5.5 Percent In 2002
Coal shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 41.9 million net tons in 2002, a decrease of 5.5 percent compared to 2001. The year saw continued growth in shipments of low-sulfur western coal from Superior, Wisconsin. Loadings of the Montana- and Wyoming -mined coal at Superior Midwest Energy Terminal approached 18.1 million tons, an increase of 6.8 percent. That tally extends SMET's string of consecutive increases to nine years. During the year, SMET also set a new record for the most coal to be loaded in a month by a single dock - 2,548,173 net tons in July. That total smashed a record that had stood since 1944.
The coal trade out of South Chicago was down slightly in 2002. The big decrease came at Lake Erie ports. Shipments from Toledo, Sandusky, Ashtabula and Conneaut totaled a combined 19.5 million tons, a decrease of 15.5 percent. While there were some coal availability problems during the summer, the decrease mostly reflects excess stockpiles in Canada.
2002 Great Lakes Coal Trade
(Net Tons)
Port |
December 2002 |
December 2001 |
2002 Total |
2001 Total |
| Superior | 1,542,343 | 1,105,843 | 18,079,010 | 16,925,015 |
| Thunder Bay | 85,864 | 254,343 | 1,887,269 | 1,783,635 |
|
Total - Western Coal |
1,628,207 | 1,360,186 | 19,966,279 | 18,708,650 |
| South Chicago | 245,857 | 241,739 | 2,465,634 | 2,582,492 |
| Toledo | 307,400 | 493,492 | 4,344,434 | 4,633,463 |
| Sandusky | 310,877 | 631,301 | 4,351,450 | 4,853,076 |
| Ashtabula | 433,206 | 768,246 | 5,123,312 | 6,199,573 |
| Conneaut | 401,079 | 638,169 | 5,661,176 | 7,378,062 |
|
Total - Lake Erie |
1,452,562 | 2,531,208 | 19,480,372 | 23,064,174 |
| Total - All Ports | 3,326,626 | 4,133,133 | 41,912,285 | 44,355,316 |
Starting with 2002, Lake Carriers' Association is reporting cargo movement on a calendar year rather than a navigation season basis. Therefore, the table below restates the Lakes coal trade for the past 10 calendar years:
Great Lakes Coal Shipments: Calendar Years
2002-1993
(Net Tons)
| Year | Total |
| 2002 |
41,912,285 |
| 2001 | 44,355,316 |
| 2000 | 41,988,850 |
| 1999 | 40,957,621 |
| 1998 | 42,054,337 |
| 1997 | 39,847,848 |
| 1996 | 34,763,699 |
| 1995 | 32,810,324 |
| 1994 | 35,201,937 |
| 1993 | 30,481,834 |
| 10-Year Total | 384,374,051 |
Date of Publication: January 17, 2003.
