According to a report today from the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA), a 14-percent increase in iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes in December pushed the year-end total to 55.6 million tons, a decrease of just 0.3 percent, or three cargos in a 1,000-foot-long laker, compared to 2017. Early in the season, the trade was down nearly 14 percent, the LCA said, largely because of delays caused by heavy ice, but the gap narrowed steadily as the year progressed.
Four of the eight active iron ore shipping ports registered increases over 2017 that ranged from 1.1 to 19.6 percent. For the first time since 1852 no iron ore was shipped from Escanaba, Michigan. The port loaded its last iron ore cargo in April 2017.
Compared to the trade’s 5-year average, 2018 iron ore loadings were up 7.8 percent.