Another Good Month for Lakes Limestone; Up 16 Percent in May
CLEVELAND – Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3,355,389 net tons in May, an increase of 30 percent compared to April and 15.6 percent better than a year ago. However, shipments were down 9.3 percent compared to the month’s 5-year average.
The strongest gains came at U.S. ports. Loadings rose by 380,000 tons, or 16.2 percent. Shipments from Canadian quarries increased by 73,000 tons, or 13.2 percent.
Year-to-date the Lakes limestone trade stands at 6.1 million net tons, an increase of 20.3 percent compared to a year ago, but a few boatloads shy of the 5-year average for the January-May timeframe.