JOC Staff | Jan 14, 2013 12:44PM EST
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation today reported that tonnage during the 2012 navigation season was 38.9 million metric tons, rising 4 percent from 2011’s 37.5 million metric tons.
Traffic exceeded the company’s original forecast by 300,000 metric tons primarily because of a late season surge in grain traffic. Canadian grain movements offset a sharp drop in U.S. grain movements caused by the drought that affected the majority of the U.S. grain belt.
Demand for low sulphur coal in Europe led to increases in coal volumes, and Chinese steel mills triggered an upsurge in the demand for iron ore, the company said in a written statement.
