Great Lakes shipping up 7% in October

U.S.-flag vessels shipped 9.5 million tons of cargo in the Great Lakes during October, according to data from the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA).    U.S.-flag Great Lakes vessels moved 9.5 million tons of cargo in October, up 7.1 percent compared to October 2016, but slightly behind the month’s long-term, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA).
   Shipments of iron ore for steelmaking totaled 4.8 million tons (direct shipments and transshipments), an increase of 9.4 percent compared to a year ago, while coal loadings rose almost 9 percent to 1.4 million tons and limestone cargoes increased 5.3 percent to 2.7 million tons. Cement, salt, sand and grain have a combined total of just over a half million tons for October.
   U.S.-flag cargoes total 70 million tons year-to-date, an increase of 3.3 percent. Broken down by shipment type, iron ore has increased 7.4 percent to 37.3 million tons while coal increased 195,000 tons to 10.8 million tons. Limestone shipments year-to-date have decreased from 18.3 million tons in 2016 to 17.9 million tons in 2017.