Lagging iron ore offsets export surge in Duluth

(Posted on 31/01/25)

Total waterborne tonnage through the Port of Duluth-Superior declined 6.8 percent compared to the 2023 season, finishing the 2024 navigation season at 29.6 million short tons.

Located at the westernmost tip of Lake Superior, the Port of Duluth-Superior is North America’s farthest-inland freshwater seaport. A remarkable nine-mile natural breakwater shelters the port’s 49 miles of harbour frontage. Twenty privately owned bulk cargo docks and a general cargo terminal populate the working waterfront.

Diminished iron ore shipments drove the decline last year, as taconite totals fell from a 28-season high in 2023 to 19.4 million tons in 2024. While still exceeding the five-season average for iron ore, this figure represents a 10.4 percent year-over-year decrease.

Despite overall tonnage falling four percent short of the five-season average, the 2024 campaign included several successes.

Maritime import/export tonnage finished the season nearly 15 percent ahead of last year’s pace, driven primarily by a 31 percent increase in export tonnage. Spring wheat led the boost in exports, more than tripling the 2023 tonnage total.

Buoyed by a fourth-quarter rally, waterborne grain tonnage approached 794,000 short tons, its best mark since 2021.

Breakbulk cargoes moving through Duluth’s Clure Public Marine Terminal climbed 70 percent year over year, destined for locations as distant as the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada.

Duluth Cargo Connect freight tonnage (including sea, road and rail) topped 500,000 tons, a year-over-year increase of approximately 21 percent and the highest total since 2020.

Spliethoff added regular trans-Atlantic liner service between Duluth and the Mediterranean, augmenting the Duluth-Antwerp service it launched in 2023, which was the port’s first regular trans-Atlantic liner service since the 1970s.

Limestone deliveries via ship topped 3.3 million short tons, the most since 2019 and wind energy cargoes posted their highest volume since 2020.

Low-sulfur coal tonnage is still above 5.5 million short tons, posted a modest year-over-year increase.

58 oceangoing ships called at Duluth-Superior, an increase of eight over the previous season.