Cargo Reports – July 2015 – Iron Ore from Ports – Text

Steel Imports Take Toll on Lakes Ore Again in July

CLEVELAND — Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 6.6 million tons in July, a decrease of 9 percent compared to a year ago. The decline reflects that steel imports continue to command more than 30 percent of the U.S. market. It takes approximately 1.5 tons of iron ore (and roughly 400 pounds of fluxstone) to make a ton of steel in a blast furnace, so every ton of unfairly traded steel takes cargo off the Lakes.