Great Lakes ore shipments plunge in 2009

Great Lakes ore shipments plunge in 2009    Great Lakes iron ore shipments totaled 31.8 million net tons in 2009, the lowest level since 1938, near the end of the Great Depression, according to the Lake Carriers' Association.
   Shipments were 46 percent lower than 2008’s 59.2 million net tons, according to the association, which represents the 18 American companies that operate 55 U.S.-flag vessels on the Great Lakes. The trade’s historic high was 107.3 million in 1953 and its low was nearly 4 million tons in 1932.
   The association said lake traffic reflected the low level of U.S. steel production last year. It said the steel industry began 2009 operating at about 35 percent of capacity. While blast furnaces were restarted as the year progressed, the industry was still only operating at 70 percent of capacity at the end of the year.
   A 1,000-foot vessel dedicated to the iron ore trade, Stewart J. Cort, has not operated since Dec. 8, 2008, the association said, and others were only activated near the end of the year. It said Roger Blough, a vessel that delivers iron ore to Gary, Ind., and Conneaut, Ohio, was idle until Oct. 29, while a vessel designed specifically to shuttle iron ore on the twisting Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, the American Republic did not set sail until Nov. 25. Other 'ore boats' also sailed an abbreviated season.
   The group noted last month that the reduction in steel making was one of the reasons that limestone shipments on the Great Lakes in 2009 were 27 percent lower than in 2008.