Great Lakes Iron Ore Trade Slides 7% in June

The Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) reports that iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 5.8 million tons in June, a decrease of 7.3 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments also trailed the month’s five-year average by 8.4 percent.

 

Shipments from U.S. ports totaled 5.2 million tons in June, a decrease of 5.5 percent compared to a year ago, while loadings at Canadian terminals dipped 19 percent to 564,000 tons.

 

Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 21.2 million tons, an increase of just 126,041 tons compared to the same point in 2015, LCA said. Loadings at U.S. ports are up 3.7 percent, but shipments from Canadian ports in the St. Lawrence Seaway are down nearly 21 percent.