GLIN==> Lakes Ore Trade Still on a Slow Bell in August

Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 3,251,657 tons in
August, a decrease of 52 percent compared to a year ago.  Although the
steel industry was bringing some capacity back on line in August,
stockpiles of ore were generally sufficient to meet immediate needs.

 

Assuming water levels have peaked for the year, then so have iron ore
cargos.  One cargo topped 68,000 tons in August.  The record - set in a
period of high water in 1997 - is 72,300 tons.  Vessels won't be able to
carry that much iron ore again until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
restores the Great Lakes Navigation System to project dimensions.
Dredging ports and channels to project dimensions will cost more than
$200 million.  

 

Stimulus dollars will be of little help.  The Corps only allocated 2
percent of the $4.6 billion Congress gave it in the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act to Great Lakes projects.  The dredging crisis on
the Great Lakes will not end until the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund
spends rather than hoards the tax dollars industry pays in each year.

 

For the year, the Lakes iron ore trade stands at 16.1 million tons, a
decrease of 59 percent compared to a year ago.  The decrease is slightly
less - 56.4 percent - when compared to the trade's 5-year average for
the January-August timeframe.

 

See attached for more details.

 

Glen G. Nekvasil

Vice President-Corporate Communications

Lake Carriers' Association

Suite 720

20325 Center Ridge Road

Rocky River, OH  44116

   P:  440-333-9996

   F:  440-333-9993

   C:  216-702-6360

   E:  nekvasil at lcaships.com

 




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