Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 5.5 million tons in April, a decrease of 6.3 percent compared to a year ago, according to a report today from the Lake Carriers’ Association. However, the association noted that shipments topped the month’s 5-year average by nearly 15 percent.
Shipments from US Great Lakes ports totaled 5.1 million tons in April, a decrease of 4.5 percent. This is the first April since perhaps the 1850s that no iron ore was shipped from Escanaba, Michigan; the mine that shipped through Escanaba has been permanently idled, which means all the iron ore shipped to US steel mills in April had to transit the Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The MacArthur Lock is undergoing maintenance so has yet to open for this season.
Loadings at Canadian terminals in the Seaway totaled 380,000 tons in April, a decrease of 18.2 percent.
Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 9.4 million tons, a decrease of 13.7 percent compared to the same point in 2017. Year-over-year, loadings at US ports total 8.2 million tons, a decrease of 15.6 percent. Shipments from Canadian ports in the St. Lawrence Seaway have increased slightly to 1.2 million tons.