CORNWALL, Ont. – The amount of cargo being shipped on the St. Lawrence Seaway continues to slide, thanks mostly in part of a significant drop in iron ore shipments.
As of the end of July, shipping amounts were at 14.8 million tons, down 11 per cent from the same period last year.
That’s primarily due to a 28 per cent year-over-year drop in iron ore shipments.
Coal is also down nearly 13 per cent.
What appears to be buoying the industry is liquid bulk shipments, which are up 27.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.
The number of ships passing through the seaway is also down 3.2 per cent (1,559 transits compared to 1,611 transits in 2015), despite the seaway opening two weeks earlier than normal this year.