(CLEVELAND) — Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 4.8 million tons in December, an increase of 19.8 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments were just slightly above the five-year average for the month.
The year-end total for the iron ore trade stands at 51.1 million tons, an increase of 20.7 percent compared to 2022.
Compared to the trade’s five-year average, 2023 iron ore loadings were up 4.5 percent.
In the limestone trade, shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 28.6 million tons in 2023, a decrease of less than 1 percent compared to 2022. Loadings in 2023 were below the trade’s five-year average by 1.1 percent.
Loadings from U.S. quarries increased less than 1 percent from the prior year to 23.1 million tons. However, shipments from U.S. quarries were below their five-year average by less than 1 percent.
Shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 5.5 million tons, a decrease of 4.4 percent compared to 2022 and 1.8 percent below the five-year average.
– Lake Carriers’ Association
