Great Lakes limestone trade falls 3.5% in October

Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.3 million tons in October, down 3.5 percent from a year prior, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association.    Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.3 million tons in October, down 3.5 percent from a year prior as the increase in loadings from Canadian quarries was not enough to offset the decline in shipments from U.S. quarries.
   During the month limestone loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 2.7 million tons, a 7.8 percent year-over-year decline, the Lake Carriers’ Association reported.
   Limestone shipments from Canadian quarries surged 21.4 percent from October 2015 to 613,000 tons.
   Overall, on a year-to-date basis, 22.8 million tons of limestone have been shipped on the Great Lakes, a 7.3 percent decline from the corresponding period in 2015.