According to the Lake Carrier’s Association, shipments of iron ore on the US Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River totaled 5.3 million tons in October, a figure that is about equal to the shipped volume in October 2015.
While the total volume held steady in October, the breakdown between the US and Canada changed. Shipments from the US Great Lakes ports totaled 4.8 million tons in October, an increase of 5.4 percent year-on-year while loadings at Canadian terminals in the St. Lawrence fell nearly 35 percent to 482,720 tons.
Year-to-date the iron ore trade between the US and Canada in this region stands at 43.4 million tons, a decrease of 2.2 percent compared to the same 10-month period in 2015. Year-to-date loadings at US ports totaled 39.1 million tons while shipments from Canadian ports in the St. Lawrence slipped to 4.3 million tons. These numbers represent an increase of 1.5 percent on the US side and a decline of nearly 27 percent on shipments from the Canadian port.