Steel Imports Take Toll on Lakes Ore in July

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 Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) reported.

The decline reflects that steel imports continue to command more than 30 percent of the U.S. market, according to the LCA, who added 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.

Shipments from U.S. ports totaled 5.7 million tons, a decrease of 14 percent compared to a year ago. Only one port, Cleveland, Ohio, saw its loadings outpace last July. Large U.S.-flag lakers deliver iron ore to Cleveland Bulk Terminal on the shores of Lake Erie, where it is then reloaded into vessels small enough to transit the twisting Cuyahoga River and reach the steel mill at the end of the Federal navigation channel.

Loadings at Canadian ports in the Seaway totaled 835,000, an increase of 52 percent, but in terms of tons, the trade rose 286,000 tons.

Through July, the Lakes/Seaway ore trade stands at 27.7 million tons, an increase of 4.5 percent compared to a year ago, but a decrease of 5.2 percent compared to the long-term average.