Monthly iron ore shipments down in US

Six million tons of iron ore were shipped across the Great Lakes in May 2006, a 4.3 percent decrease compared to the same month last year, according to the Lake Carriers Association. The six million ton figure is also a seven percent decrease compared to a five-year average for May. The association attributes the decline to a lack of adequate dredging. Year-to-date Great Lakes and Seaway iron ore trade is 17.6 million tons, a 5.5 percent increase compared to YTD trade for the same period last year, and nine percent above the five-year average. However, the association says that the five-year average is so much lower due to the gloomy state of the steel market during the first few years of the decade. The largest iron ore cargo loaded during May was 64,366 tons, or 92 percent of the vessel's carrying capacity.