Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 6.7 million tons in June, an increase of 16 percent compared to a year ago, the Lake Carriers' Association (LCA) reported. Shipments also bettered the month’s five-year average by 8 percent.
Shipments from U.S. Great Lakes ports totaled 6 million tons in June, an increase of 15 percent compared to a year ago, LCA said. Loadings at Canadian terminals in the Seaway totaled 698,000 tons, an increase of nearly 25 percent.
Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 23.7 million tons, an increase of nearly 12 percent compared to the same point in 2016. Year-over-year, loadings at U.S. ports total 21.45 million tons, an increase of 12.4 percent. Shipments from Canadian ports in the St. Lawrence Seaway have risen 6.5 percent to 2.3 million tons.