Great Lakes Shipping Cut in Half

Great Lakes trade in the commodities that fuel North American industry is being hit hard by recession and some 30 U.S. lake vessels, out of 74 that could be operating, are tied up for lack of business, the industry reported Thursday.

American lake vessels in April carried only half the iron ore, limestone, coal and other commodities that they have carried each April for the last five years, and their tonnage for the first four months of this year is down 61 percent from the five-year average for the period.

The Cleveland-based Lake Carriers’ Association, whose 18 member companies operate 65 U.S.-flag vessels on the lakes, also brought into statistics released Thursday the tonnage of non-member firms operating nine ships, mainly liquid bulk carriers.

Of the 74 ships in all, at least 44 are presently in service. For the year-to-date, U.S. ships carried 6.6 million tons, down 59 percent from the period a year ago. With the U.S. steel industry "operating at less than 50 percent of capacity" and when "the pulse in the construction industry is weak," the LCA said April cargo movement totaled 5.1 million tons, down 49 percent from just over 10 million tons in the five-year average.

Iron ore cargoes suffered the biggest decline, down 62 percent in April to 1.7 million tons from 4.6 million in April 2008 and 4.7 million for the five-year April average. The first four months’ total was 2.7 million tons, against 4.6 million last year and 4.7 million over five years. Canadian shipments of iron ore to Great Lakes destinations through the St. Lawrence Seaway, always much smaller in total, also fell sharply.

Limestone, used in construction but also as fluxstone in steel mills, dropped 48 percent April over April to 1.1 million tons. The total coal trade, mainly for power plants, at 1.9 million tons in April "was within striking distance of a year ago (2.1 million)." on strong shipments of western coal from Lake Superior, the main source of U.S. supply. Coal shipments from Lakes Michigan and Erie were down badly, the LCA said.

Contact Courtney Tower at ctower@sympatico.ca.