Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.4 million tons in October, a decrease of 7.5 percent compared to a year ago. Limestone cargos also trailed the month’s five-year average by 4.6 percent, according to the Lake Carriers Association (LCA).
Loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 2.8 million tons, a decrease of 6 percent. Shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 568,000 tons, a decrease of 14.6 percent.
Year-to-date the limestone trade stands at 24.2 million tons, an increase of 1.9 percent compared to a year ago. Loadings from Michigan and Ohio quarries total 19.8 million tons, an increase of 1.7 percent. Shipments from Ontario quarries total 4.4 million tons, an increase 2.6 percent.
LCA represents 13 American companies that operate 45 U.S.-flag vessels on the Great Lakes and carry the raw materials that drive the nation’s economy: iron ore and fluxstone for the steel industry, aggregate and cement for the construction industry, coal for power generation, as well as salt, sandand grain. Collectively, its members can transport more than 90 million tons of dry-bulk cargo per year and employ more than 1,600 men and women, all of whom are U.S. citizens or legally admitted aliens, and provide annual wages and benefits of approximately $125 million. In turn, those cargos create and sustain nearly 116,000 jobs in the eight Great Lakes states and generate more than $20 billion in economic activity, $8.3 billion in personal income, $16.4 billion in business revenue, $4.1 billion in local purchases and $3.7 billion in taxes.