Great Lakes Iron Ore Trade Down 11.2 Percent in March
CLEVELAND—Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 1.9 million tons in March, a decrease of 11.2 percent compared to a year ago. However, loadings were 6.75 percent ahead of the month’s 5-year average.
Shipments from U.S. ports totaled 1.75 million tons, a decrease of 17 percent compared to a year ago. However, the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, that connect Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes opened on March 21 in 2010. This March the locks opened on their regularlyscheduled date: March 25. Five of the seven U.S. ore ports are located on Lake Superior, so four less days of navigation clearly impacted the total. Nonetheless, shipments were 100,000 tons ahead of March’s 5-year average.