Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 5.5 million tons in November, an increase of 13 percent compared to a year ago, Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) reported. Shipments were also slightly ahead of the month’s five-year average.
Shipments from U.S. Great Lakes ports totaled 5 million tons in November, an increase of 19.5 percent. However, loadings at Canadian terminals in the Seaway fell nearly 26 percent to just 530,000 tons.
Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 48.9 million tons, a slight decrease compared to the same point in 2015. Year-over-year, loadings at U.S. ports total 44.1 million tons, an increase of 3.2 percent, but shipments from Canadian ports in the St. Lawrence Seaway have slipped to 4.8 million tons, a decrease of nearly 27 percent.