According to the Lake Carriers' Association (LCA), shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 61,354,552 net tons in 2011, an increase of 12.8 percent over 2010, and the highest total since 2006.
The year ended on a very strong note; December loadings were up 35 percent.
Loadings at US Great Lakes ports rose 14.3 percent to 55 million tons. However, shipments from Canadian ports registered only a marginal increase: 57,937 tons, or roughly two loads in Seaway-sized lakers.
The 2011 ore float was 13 percent ahead of the trade's 5-year average. US ports collectively bettered their 5-year average by 17.6 percent, but loadings at Canadian ports slipped by more than 15 percent.