Indiana ports tonnage up 8% in 2010

Indiana ports tonnage up 8% in 2010    The Ports of Indiana handled more than 7.7 million tons of cargo among its three state locations in 2010, an 8 percent increase over 2009.
   New cargoes and agricultural-related shipments helped raise Indiana's port system to its largest annual tonnage since 2006. The port authority in 2010 also purchased new land, built $12.5 million in new infrastructure, expanded at five port companies, and extended foreign-trade zone services to more than 20 counties.
   'Despite recent economic troubles, this is the third consecutive year that overall shipments have increased, and this was our second-largest total in 12 years,' said Rich Cooper, chief executive officer for the Ports of Indiana, in a statement. 'What's even more exciting is that many of last year's developments were designed to seed future growth.'
   In 2010, there were significant increases in shipments of grain, fertilizer and steel, but the biggest impact came from the arrival of new cargoes, such as ethanol, dried-distillers grain (DDGs) and 'heavy lift' cargoes, which included building-size storage tanks, transformers and ship engines as well as a windmill project that required 11 shiploads of components.
   Worldwide demand for local grain drove up agricultural shipments for both outbound grain (13 percent) and inbound fertilizer (22 percent), while steel shipments gained momentum from a recovering U.S. manufacturing sector to increase 12 percent compared to 2009.