Great Lakes Limestone Trade Falls 16.3% in April

Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 1,630,081 tons in April, a  decrease of 16.3 percent compared to a year ago, the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) reports.  Loadings also trailed the month’s five-year average by 22.4 percent.

Loadings at U.S. quarries totaled 1,332,839 tons, a decrease of 14 percent compared to a year ago, while shipments from Canadian docks totaled 297,242 tons, a decrease of 24.7 percent, LCA said.

Year-to-date the Great Lakes limestone trade stands at 1.7 million tons, a decrease of 24.3 percent compared to the same point in 2016. Shipments from U.S. and Canadian quarries are down 23.3 percent and 24.7 percent respectively.

The year-to-date total includes 78,489 tons shipped from U.S. quarries in March.