Western Coal Is Lone Bright Spot For U.S.-Flag Lakers In September

U.S.-flag lakers loaded nearly 2.2 million net tons of western coal in Superior, Wisconsin, and South Chicago in September, an increase of 12 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.  For the year, low-sulfur coal shipments in U.S. bottoms stand at 11.9 million tons, an increase of 11 percent and reflect the steady growth in demand for the clean-burning coal from power plants throughout the Great Lakes basin.  (Note: LCA did not start tracking U.S.-flag coal by Lake of loading until 2001, so the 5-year average is unavailable.)

However, coal's strong performance could not mask another plummet in iron ore cargos.  U.S.-flag lakers saw their ore float slip below 4 million tons in September, a decrease of 23.2 percent compared to a year ago and a drop of 20.8 percent compared to the month's 5-year average.  For the year, the U.S.-flag ore float stands at a calamitous 29.1 million tons, a decrease of 12 percent compared to the same point in 2002 and a plunge of nearly 20 percent computed on a 5-year basis.  The anemic ore totals confirm that many of America's integrated steelmakers are still struggling to regain market share lost to unfair trade.

There was no change in pace in the limestone trade in September.  Lackluster demand for aggregate from the construction industry pulled shipments down by 7.3 percent compared both to last September and the month's 5-year average.  For the year, U.S.-flag stone cargos stand at 16.8 million net tons, a decrease of 8.8 percent compared to last year and a drop 10.4 percent compared to the 5-year average for the end of September.  The sluggish demand for stone has kept a trio of U.S.-flag lakers idle the entire year.

U.S.-Flag Dry-Bulk Carriage on the Great Lakes - September 1999-2003 and 5-Year Average
(net tons)

Commodity September 1999 September 2000 September 2001 September 2002 September 2003 5-Yr. Average
Iron Ore
Direct Shipments 5,045,527 5,437,482 4,388,961 4,893,656 3,804,332 4,713,991
Transshipments 423,442 481,450 166,031 279,738 167,796 303,709
Total - Iron Ore 5,468,969 5,918,932 4,554,992 5,173,394 3,972,128 5,017,700
Coal
Lake Superior 1,454,491 1,409,193 1,426,738 1,700,621 1,885,498 1,575,308
Lake Michigan 888,159 959,538 217,720 233,904 290,472 867,611
Lake Erie 589,182 612,426 546,657
Total - Coal 2,342,650 2,368,731 2,233,640 2,546,951 2,722,627 2,442,919
Limestone 3,255,624 3,420,968 3,197,860 3,220,901 2,985,683 3,216,207
Cement 520,313 466,616 408,108 415,851 426,199 447,417
Salt 168,923 103,370 99,612 89,070 41,696 100,534
Sand 26,421 68,471 94,458 43,565 54,677 57,518
Grain 53,063 49,615 32,297 33,171 45,142 42,657
Totals 11,835,963 12,396,703 10,620,967 11,522,903 10,248,152 11,324,952

NOTE: Prior to 2001, Lake Erie and Lake Michigan were combined into one total.

U.S.-Flag Dry-Bulk Carriage on the Great Lakes - Year-To-Date 1999-2003 and 5-Year Average
(net tons)

Commodity Y-T-D 1999 Y-T-D 2000 Y-T-D 2001 Y-T-D 2002 Y-T-D 2003 5-Yr. Average
Iron Ore
Direct Shipments 36,128,607 39,330,020 32,102,767 31,925,146 28,033,075 33,503,923
Transshipments 4,112,607 4,554,671 2,611,138 1,119,403 1,056,183 2,690,800
Total - Iron Ore 40,241,214 43,884,691 34,713,905 33,044,549 29,089,258 36,194,723
Coal
Lake Superior 9,544,052 8,964,150 9,816,503 9,102,687 10,081,107 9,501,699
Lake Michigan 5,547,657 5,357,388 1,552,315 1,568,846 1,813,724 5,334,006
Lake Erie 3,838,697 3,967,976 3,023,431
Total - Coal 15,091,709 14,321,538 15,207,515 14,639,509 14,918,262 14,835,705
Limestone 19,753,707 19,883,426 18,949,077 18,422,321 16,804,052 18,762,516
Cement 3,204,414 3,052,528 2,970,179 2,794,503 2,827,955 2,969,915
Salt 970,072 725,583 518,546 413,850 655,301 656,670
Sand 193,267 221,106 412,031 147,854 377,928 270,437
Grain 194,086 260,974 178,746 198,730 204,177 207,342
Totals 79,648,469 82,349,846 72,949,999 69,661,316 64,876,933 73,897,308

DATE OF PUBLICATION: October 30, 2003

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