Great Lakes iron ore trade improves

Great Lakes iron ore trade improves    The Lake Carriers Association said iron ore shipments were up in January when compared to the same period in 2009, but still well below the prior five-year average.
   Loadings totaled 1.9 million tons, a 168 percent increase from a year ago, but far below the 2005-2009 average for January of 2.6 million tons.
   The group said, “So far this year each week has brought a small increase in the capacity utilization rate at steel mills. The most recent report from the American Iron and Steel Institute finds that for the week ending Feb. 6 the industry is using 67.3 percent of its capacity. A year ago mills had only 45 percent of their capacity on line.”
   Most of the Great Lakes iron ore ports stopped shipping when the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., closed, as per federal regulation, on Jan. 15. Loading continued at Escanaba, Mich., until Feb. 1, when a final cargo of 39,324 tons was loaded into the U.S.-flag self-unloading barge Great Lakes Trader for delivery to a steel mill at the lower end of Lake Michigan.