Shipments of iron ore, coal and stone from U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes ports stand at 119.2 million tons through October, an increase of 7.4 percent.
Iron ore loadings have increased 9.4 percent. Coal cargos are up 15.5 percent and stone loadings have increased 12.2 percent.
The Lakes stone trade is expected to set its fourth-straight post-recession record. The current post-recession record of 35.1 million tons should have fallen in late November. Another record to fall in 1997 will be shipments of low-sulfur coal from Superior, Wisconsin. At the end of November, coal loadings out of Superior Midwest Energy Terminal were only 600,000 tons short of the 1996 record of 13.6 million tons.
| Commodity | October 1997 | October 1996 | Season to Date 1997 |
Season to Date 1996 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRON ORE | ||||
| Great Lakes | 6,125,006 | 6,384,801 | 46,317,820 | 44,849,598 |
| Eastern Canada | 1,334,637 | 1,617,127 | 9,301,452 | 10,248,315 |
| Total - Iron Ore | 7,459,642 | 8,001,927 | 55,619,272 | 55,097,913 |
| COAL | ||||
| Lake Erie | 2,737,335 | 2,217,075 | 17,036,425 | 13,900,078 |
| Lake Michigan | 222,678 | 193,378 | 1,991,421 | 1,129,053 |
| Lake Superior - U.S. | 1,763,473 | 1,793,116 | 11,604,561 | 11,006,746 |
| Lake Superior - Canada | 157,332 | 192,020 | 873,610 | 1,253,062 |
| Total - Coal | 4,880,818 | 4,395,589 | 31,506,017 | 27,288,939 |
| LIMESTONE, GYPSUM | ||||
| U.S. Ports | 4,186,650 | 3,543,694 | 27,910,886 | 25,121,935 |
| Canadian Ports | 723,709 | 426,398 | 4,198,822 | 3,480,366 |
| Total - Stone | 4,910,359 | 3,970,092 | 32,109,708 | 28,602,301 |
| Total All Commodities | 17,250,819 | 15,941,210 | 119,234,997 | 110,989,153 |
Note: The above totals are carried almost exclusively by U.S.-Flag and Canadian-Flag lakers. Third-Flag vessels (i.e., salties) occasionally load coal for export overseas (167,000 tons in 1996).
The ports reporting cargo movement are as follows:
Iron Ore: Minnesota - Duluth, Two Harbors, Silver Bay and Taconite Harbor; Wisconsin - Superior; Michigan - Marquette and Escanaba.
Coal: Ohio - Toledo, Sandusky, Ashtabula and Conneaut; Illinois - South Chicago; Wisconsin - Superior; Ontario - Thunder Bay.
Limestone and Gypsum: Michigan - Calcite, Cedarville, Presque Isle, Port Inland, Drummond Island, Alabaster and Port Gypsum; Ohio - Marblehead; Ontario - Manitoulin Island, Smelter Bay, Bruce Mines and Port Colbourne.