According to the Lake Carriers Association, shipments of iron ore from U.S. ports on the Great Lakes totaled 3.9 million tons in September, a decrease of 33.1 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments were also below the month’s 5-year average by 30 percent.
Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 28.2 million tons, a decrease of nearly 27 percent compared to the same point in 2019.
Through September iron ore loadings are 24.2 percent below their 5-year average for the first three quarters.
Great Lakes Iron Ore Shipments: September 2015-2020 and 5-Year Average (net tons)
Includes Transshipments to Quebec City for Shipment Overseas
| Port | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Average |
| Duluth, MN | 567,152 | 383,163 | 412,940 | 721,295 | 893,435 | 679,082 | 595,597 |
| Superior, WI | 1,001,992 | 854,264 | 1,853,988 | 1,338,567 | 1,230,462 | 630,822 | 1,255,855 |
| Two Harbors, MN | 1,796,553 | 1,916,683 | 2,144,153 | 2,123,760 | 1,966,244 | 1,324,819 | 1,989,479 |
| Silver Bay, MN | 568,385 | 379,522 | 701,826 | 670,784 | 470,632 | 480,557 | 558,230 |
| Marquette, MI | 394,640 | 751,361 | 704,512 | 776,347 | 687,863 | 561,723 | 662,945 |
| Escanaba, MI* | 144,465 | 435,370 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115,967 |
| Cleveland, OH** | 383,056 | 196,424 | 128,620 | 246,477 | 338,336 | 17,979 | 258,583 |
| Ashtabula, OH | 0 | 0 | 239,978 | 0 | 184,438 | 167,847 | 84,883 |
| Conneaut, OH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 4,856,243 | 4,916,787 | 6,186,017 | 5,877,230 | 5,771,410 | 3,862,829 | 5,521,537 |
Year to Date 2015-2020
| Port | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Average |
| Duluth, MN | 4,359,439 | 3,251,010 | 4,763,565 | 5,231,066 | 6,469,559 | 5,821,301 | 4,814,928 |
| Superior, WI | 6,637,527 | 7,369,168 | 9,331,365 | 9,224,745 | 8,267,179 | 4,841,424 | 8,165,997 |
| Two Harbors, MN | 10,804,848 | 11,314,338 | 12,359,521 | 12,222,061 | 12,507,450 | 9,034,181 | 11,841,644 |
| Silver Bay, MN | 3,180,714 | 1,511,435 | 4,758,138 | 4,631,536 | 3,647,844 | 2,792,531 | 3,545,933 |
| Marquette, MI | 4,181,511 | 5,248,858 | 4,905,490 | 4,797,026 | 4,750,423 | 3,400,042 | 4,776,662 |
| Escanaba, MI* | 2,305,376 | 3,386,328 | 1,016,867 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,341,714 |
| Cleveland, OH** | 2,494,198 | 2,212,120 | 2,027,877 | 2,011,117 | 1,821,828 | 1,560,604 | 2,113,428 |
| Ashtabula, OH | 0 | 0 | 858,918 | 790,350 | 1,097,139 | 716,227 | 549,281 |
| Conneaut, OH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 33,963,613 | 34,293,257 | 40,021,741 | 38,907,901 | 38,561,422 | 28,166,310 | 37,149,587 |
*Dock ceased operations in April 2017.
**Transshipments within Cleveland Harbor.
