U.S. Great Lakes ports had a busy August, shipping construction materials, road salt, aluminum and wind energy components, reports Marine Log.
Despite these areas of strength, cargo volumes via the bi-national St. Lawrence Seaway (from March 22 to August 31) at 20.9 million metric tons were down 3.5% compared to the same period in 2018.
“These gains have been offset by a 20% decline in U.S. grain exports via the St. Lawrence Seaway after flooding this past spring prevented some U.S. farmers from getting into their fields to plant corn and soybeans," Bruce Burrows, president of the Chamber of Marine Commerce told the Marine Log.
The Port of Duluth-Superior, though, is seeing an increase in overseas wheat exports from Western Minnesota and the Dakotas.
Outbound grain tonnage tracked nearly five percent ahead of last year’s pace, helping push the port’s overall tonnage slightly ahead of 2018 and the five-year average.
