St. Lawrence Seaway November cargo jumps 28%

St. Lawrence Seaway November cargo jumps 28%    The St. Lawrence Seaway reported a 28 percent increase in cargo, or 4.8 million tons, for November, compared to the same period last year.
   Some sections of the seaway saw the highest number of ship transits for this time of the year in more than a decade, with increased volumes experienced with iron ore, coal and grain shipments.
   Year-to-date cargo shipments for the period from March 31 to Nov. 30 were 31.9 million metric tons, up 19 percent compared to 2009. The seaway expects that figure will hit 35 million metric tons before the shipping season concludes at the end of the month.
   'The double-digit tonnage increases we saw in November confirm that an economic rebound from a deep recession is underway,' said Rebecca McGill, director of trade development for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., in a statement.
   'We've seen significant increases in coal, grain and steel movements during 2010,' said Peter Laman, port director for the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, one of the ports relying the seaway. 'But our biggest increase is in project cargo shipments which are 10 times last year's totals. This was driven by a few large tank and wind farm construction projects, including one that brought in 11 ships of windmill components. We also had our first exports of U.S. manufactured windmills, which were shipped to Nova Scotia.'