August 11 - Falling coal and iron ore volumes on the St Lawrence Seaway contributed to an 11 percent reduction in total tonnage in the first quarter, while steel slabs - up 214 percent - were one of the few cargoes to show growth.
With international traffic still above average, Betty Sutton, administrator of the St Lawrence Seaway Corporation, highlighted some other positives: "Aluminium shipments supporting the automotive industry played a significant role in activity at the ports of Oswego, New York; Toledo, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan.
"We also saw wind energy parts moving through the Port of Ogdensburg, New York, headed for the new Jericho Rise Wind Farm project in upstate New York. The ports of Chicago, Illinois, Burns Harbor, Indiana and Milwaukee, Wisconsin were also busy with the movement of steel products and machinery."
Port of Milwaukee spokesman Jeff Fleming said that Emmert International, a specialist in designing, engineering, and manufacturing heavy-haul and rigging equipment, chose the Port of Milwaukee to move an extraordinarily large piece of cargo in July.
Emmert arranged for the transportation of a 650,000 lb (294-tonne) steel press component to be moved from Canada on a deck barge through the Seaway System to Milwaukee.
"The platen then headed to Scot Forge in Spring Grove, Illinois via CP Rail which switches into the port. Emmert relied on the port's heavy lift dock capability and their intermodal assets to serve its customer," explained Fleming.
