Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 6.4 million tons in August, an increase of 1.8 percent compared to a year ago, according to a report today from the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA). Shipments outperformed the month’s five-year average by nearly 13 percent.
Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 33 million tons, a decrease of 2.4 percent compared to the same point in 2017. The gap has been steadily decreasing over the course of the shipping season, LCA said; at the end of April, iron ore shipments were down nearly 14 percent.
Through August iron shipments are 7.2 percent ahead of their five-year average for the eight months of the year.