Diverse Seaway Cargoes Keep U.S. Ports Bustling in July

While July Seaway traffic fluctuated across the various categories, U.S. ports handled a wide range of cargoes in July.  

“It was a solid month for our U.S. Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System ports with more ships entering the Seaway System with aluminum, iron ore and salt,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.  Also notable was the increase in containers to the Ports of Detroit and Cleveland, wind turbines to the Port of Monroe and outbound shipments of grain from Duluth.       

“Short sea shipping is alive and well at the Port of Toledo,” said Joe Cappel, Vice President of Business Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.  In the month of July, over 22,000 tons of aluminum and steel were shipped into the port via barges from Canada.  “Much of this break bulk cargo used to find its way to our area via long haul cross-border truck routes, now more processors and manufacturers are taking advantage of marine transportation to bring goods to our region.”

Containerized cargo continues to find a foothold at U.S. ports within the System.

July was an historic month for the Port of Monroe.  The port was called upon by a European vessel for the first time since the 1960’s as the M/V Faglegracht of Spliethoff Lines delivered wind blades and natural gas pipeline sections from Germany. The pipe sections are destined for the Rover Pipeline project, a large portion of which will now be staged at the port due to this initial cargo. “This development is proof positive that port activity and cargo movement breed new and subsequent opportunities,” said port director Paul C. LaMarre III.  Less than two weeks after their initial visit, Spliethoff Lines once again called upon the Port as the M/V Florijingracht was loaded with wind blades and the first container ever to transit the Port of Monroe’s docks.

The Port of Detroit received 20 containers of heavy lift cargo on the Spliethoff vessel M/V Faglegracht in July.  The cargo is destined for two projects:  machinery for a press in Centerline, Michigan, and for a Siemen’s energy park on the west side of the state.  “This is the first shipment of containers the Port has received in 10 years,” said John Loftus, Executive Director. “Our port has the capacity, equipment, and expertise to handle a variety of cargo types and we anticipate receiving more containerized cargo in the future.”

“Tonnage moving through the Port of Cleveland continues to substantially exceed 2014 levels,” said David Gutheil, Vice President/Maritime and Logistics.  “July was another strong month in our traditional steel sector, which includes steel coils, pipe, and wire rod.  The Cleveland-Europe Express service has also continued its momentum.  Containerized cargo has increased by more than 300 percent compared to 2014, and we continue to receive positive feedback from customers who have traditionally used coastal ports, but now have transitioned their cargo to the CEE.” 

The Port of Oswego received two McKeil Marine barges totaling nearly 20,000 metric tons of aluminum in July.  “We continue to stay on target for another record year in aluminum shipments,” said Zelko Kirincich, Executive Director & CEO.

The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that year-to-date total cargo shipments for the period April 2 to July 31 were 14.5 million metric tons, down 7.4 percent over the same period in 2014.  U.S. grain shipments were up by 63 percent in July over last year.  The dry bulk category was up by 10 percent over 2014 with potash and gypsum in the positive column, at 170 and 36 percent respectively.  The general cargo category was down 8 percent. Iron ore and coal remained down in July by 8 and 38 percent respectively.  The liquid bulk category posted a downturn of 3 percent.