Duluth back to pre-pandemic levels
Inland navigation through the Saint-Laurence River and the Great Lakes is also getting back to normal. Throughput in the Port of Duluth-Superior climbed to 32.9 million t in 2021, an increase of 27% compared to 2020 and a 2.3% improvement over the five-season average.
20.4 million t of iron ore transited the port during the 2021 season, a 32.6% rise. Coal and petcoke also witnessed a leap of 47% to 7.9 million tons. Inbound cement tonnage surged as well as general cargo.
Nevertheless, grain, the port’s No. 1 export, marked a low, dropping to 808,500 t. For the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System as a whole, total overall tonnage increased by 1% season over season, finishing at 42 million short tonnes. Seaway tonnage also went up by 1.61%. (sh)