GLIN==> September Seaway Statistics

PRESS RELEASE

 

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Laura M. Blades

 
202-558-5123

                             

Year-to-date Seaway Cargo Shipments Up 18%

Waterway Buoyed by New Business, Trade Routes

 

Washington, D.C. (October 20, 2010) - Cargo shipments through the St.
Lawrence Seaway continue to rebound on the back of strong American grain
exports and iron ore and steel activity, along with an uptick of new
business and trade routes.

 

The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that total year-to-date shipments reached
22.9 million metric tons from March 25 to September 30, an increase of 18
percent over the same period in 2009. Year-to-date shipments of iron ore for
2010 is up 62 percent to 7.2 million metric tons compared to last year,
while American grain shipments have increased by 36 percent to 1.3 million
metric tons.

 

In September, these numbers were boosted by a 68 percent surge in American
grain shipments to 604,000 metric tons compared to the same month in 2009.
Iron ore increased in September by 5.7 percent and general cargo (which is
comprised of steel slabs, coils and project cargo like wind power
components) rose by 17 percent compared to the same month in 2009.

 

Adolph Ojard, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority noted
that the Port of Duluth-Superior continued to enjoy robust grain shipments.
"The story at the Port remains the movement of grain. Grain year-to-date is
up 15 percent over our five year average, while grain year-to-date is up 89
percent over the same period in 2009. In September alone, we experienced a
123 percent increase in outbound grain shipments." 

 

This season, the Seaway saw steel imports from Romania and South America
arrive at new markets in the Great Lakes; quartz stone shipments from
Canada's Maritime Provinces to Hamilton; and bulk material from Japan to the
Great Lakes to be used in construction projects.   

Canada Steamship Lines also recently signed a new four-month deal to ship
wind turbine components from the Port of Gros-Cacouna on Quebec's South
Shore to Burns Harbor, Indiana.  The five loads, which will be completed in
October, are bound for a wind farm in Bloomington, Illinois.  The shipment
removes 400 trucks from the highways between Cacouna and Chicago, the
equivalent of 700,000 truck-kilometers or 17 times the distance around the
Earth.

 "This is the first time we transported wind turbine components on deck as
well as in the cargo holds.  We used every available space in the ship. This
new business, which benefitted from the Seaway's tolls incentives program,
was not only a win for CSL but also for the Seaway and adjoining
communities. There are clear environmental benefits of taking trucks off the
road and using marine transportation, which has a much smaller carbon
footprint," said Tom Brodeur, vice-president of marketing for Montreal-based
Canada Steamship Lines, a division of The CSL Group.

 

"This year, the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor received the largest project
cargo shipment in our port's 40-year history," said Port Director Peter
Laman. "The shipment included more than 130 wind turbines carried on 11
ships for a project in Illinois. We've devoted about 20 acres of our outdoor
storage area to wind equipment and we also just handled our first export
shipment of wind turbines that are being transported from Iowa to Nova
Scotia."

 

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway waterway is responsible for
approximately 75,000 direct and indirect jobs in Canada and 150,000 in the
U.S. and annually generates more than $4.3 billion in personal income, $3.4
billion in transportation-related business revenue, and $1.3 billion in
federal, state and local taxes.  This vital trade corridor delivers
approximately $3.6 billion in annual cost savings compared to the next least
expensive mode of commercial transportation. This provides a competitive
advantage for the North American manufacturing, construction, energy and
agri-food sectors.

 

 

 

For interviews, please contact: Nancy Alcalde, Director, Congressional &
Public Relations, Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation on
202-366-0091.

 

-30-

 

 

____________________________________________________________________________
____

Marine Delivers is a bi-national, industry collaboration that aims to
demonstrate the economic contribution and environmental sustainability of
the shipping industry throughout the Great Lakes region. The Marine Delivers
initiative is administered by the American Great Lakes Ports Association in
the United States, and the Chamber of Marine Commerce in Canada. For more
information, visit the Marine Delivers website at www.marinedelivers.com.

 

 

Laura M. Blades

Director of Public Affairs

American Great Lakes Ports Association

700 12th Street, NW  Suite 700

Washington, DC 20005

T:  202-558-5123

C:  301-956-5391

blades at greatlakesports.org

 

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