Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 6.4 million tons in August, an increase of 1.8 percent compared to a year ago, the Lake Carriers’ Association reported. Shipments outperformed the month’s five-year average by nearly 13 percent.
Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 33 million tons, a decrease of 2.4 percent compared to the same point in 2017. The gap has been steadily decreasing over the course of the shipping season. At the end of April, iron ore shipments were down nearly 14 percent.
Through August iron shipments are 7.2 percent ahead of their five-year average for the eight months of the year.