Press Release

U.S.-Flag Shipping on the Great Lakes Up 16.8

U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters (lakers) moved 81.8 million tons of cargo in 2021, an increase of 16.8 per cent compared to 2020. The 2021 float was less than 1 per cent below the fleet’s 5-year average.

Global edition By Mo Shine 18 February 2022

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U.S.-Flag Shipping on the Great Lakes Up 16.8 — US flagshipping

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CLEVELAND – U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters (lakers) moved 81.8 million tons of cargo in 2021, an increase of 16.8 per cent compared to 2020. The 2021 float was less than 1 per cent below the fleet’s 5-year average.

Iron ore cargos totalled 41.7 million tons, an increase of 12.4 per cent compared to a year earlier. Shipments of all other commodities increased as well in 2021. Coal cargos were up 42.7 per cent to 10.4 million tons. Limestone and cement shipments increased by 16.7 and nearly 5 per cent, respectively. Salt cargos were up by 34.2 per cent. Shipments of sand were up by 21.6 per cent, while grain cargos increased by 16.3 per cent.

Commodity	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	Average 2016-2020
Iron Ore
Direct Shipments	41,094,539	41,924,553	41,711,804	46,004,805	33,422,404	41,025,561	40,831,621
Transshipments	2,980,293	4,064,262	4,092,629	3,678,669	3,637,614	625,628	3,690,693
Total – Iron Ore	44,074,832	45,988,815	45,804,433	49,683,474	37,060,018	41,651,189	44,522,314
Coal
Lake Superior	9,609,901	10,254,462	8,697,702	7,952,133	4,930,728	7,268,985	8,288,985
Lake Michigan	526,568	369,327	390,438	723,841	560,057	827,962	514,046
Lake Erie	2,828,408	2,708,708	2,728,192	2,642,972	1,764,650	2,255,738	2,534,586
Total – Coal	12,964,877	13,332,497	11,816,332	11,318,946	7,255,435	10,352,685	11,337,617
Limestone	21,193,845	21,553,131	21,961,050	24,086,722	20,694,823	24,141,410	21,897,914
Cement	3,246,471	3,182,636	2,933,346	3,288,509	3,441,467	3,612,012	3,218,486
Salt	1,259,409	1,067,836	460,577	923,476	866,354	1,162,396	915,530
Sand	265,220	375,638	493,128	413,040	411,165	500,055	391,638
Grain	249,999	237,331	259,745	289,728	314,849	366,154	270,330
Totals	83,254,653	85,737,884	83,728,611	90,003,895	70,044,110	81,785,901	82,553,831

U.S.-Flag Dry-Bulk Cargo Carriage on the Great Lakes
2016-2021 and Long-Term Average (net tons)

About Lake Carriers’ Association

Since 1880, Lake Carriers’ has represented the U.S.-flag Great Lakes fleet, which today can move more than 90 million tons of cargos annually that are the foundation of American industry, infrastructure, and power: iron ore, stone, coal, cement, and other dry bulk materials such as grain, salt, and sand. More information is available at www.lcaships.com.

About the author

Mo Shine

Lead Strategist, African Infrastructure & Diplomacy

Mo Shine covers the geopolitics, logistics and diplomacy of critical-mineral extraction in the Global South, with a focus on how African statecraft shapes what investors and operators can actually build. He spent more than a decade in newspaper journalism, as sub-editor and executive editor, and has worked with Skillings since 2009.

His current work tracks the Lobito Corridor and other Western-backed rail routes, and what they change for working capital, regional diplomacy and operator resilience across the Central African Copperbelt.