Lakes limestone trade up 10.8 percent in November

Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3 million tons in November, an increase of nearly 11 percent compared to a year ago.  The trade also outperformed the month’s 5-year average by 2.5 percent.
 
Shipments from U.S. ports totaled 2.5 million tons in November, an increase of 11.1 percent compared to a year ago.  Loadings out of Canadian quarries rose 9.3 percent to 500,000 tons.
 
Year-to-date the Lakes limestone trade stands at 27.5 million tons, an increase of 7 percent compared to the same point in 2014, and 4.3 percent better than the 5-year average for the January-November timeframe.  Shipments from U.S. ports are up 7.4 percent.  Loadings out of Canadian quarries are up 4.9 percent.