The Lake Carriers' Association reported Monday that iron ore shipments on the US Great Lakes totaled 7,046,156 tons in July, an increase of 12.2 percent over June and an increase of 18 percent compared to a year ago. July loadings were also up over 12 percent compared to the month's five-year average.
Shipments from US ports totaled 6.3 million tons, an increase of nearly 21 percent compared to a year ago. However, loadings at Canadian ports were virtually unchanged at 746,887 tons.
Through July the iron ore trade on the Great Lakes stands at 30.1 million tons, an increase of 9.1 percent compared to a year ago, and nearly 10 percent better than the five-year average for the January-July timeframe.