2020 season summary for the Port of Duluth-Superior

Each of the port’s major cargo categories experienced season-over-season tonnage declines, most notably iron ore (down 21.9%) and coal (down 33.2%), with the pandemic withering North American demand and production.

Despite the drop in iron ore tonnage to 15.4 million t, that total still exceeded the 2015 and 2016 iron ore tonnage totals, when illegal foreign steel dumping hampered the market.

Coal tonnage, which peaked at 22.1 million t in 2008, fell to 5.4 million t in 2020.

The silver lining in 2020 was wind energy cargo, which sailed into Duluth’s Clure Public Marine Terminal at a record-setting pace.

For the season, Duluth Cargo Connect welcomed 525 000 freight t of wind cargo, easily surpassing the previous record of 306 000 freight t set in 2019. Looking beyond the numbers, the port’s emergence as a wind cargo hub was an important win for cargo diversity and also for the expansion of renewable energy nationwide.

Additionally, grain tonnage approached 1.4 million t, finishing near its 2019 total and slightly above the five-season average. Combined with the record amount of wind cargo, this helped generate 85 overseas vessel arrivals to the port in 2020, equalling the 2019 total, which was the highest since 2010.

For the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System as a whole, grain tonnage jumped 27% season-over-season, helping offset drops in other cargo categories and keeping 2020 Seaway tonnage nearly level with its 2019 total.

Another Duluth-Superior bright spot was the progressive tonnage improvements of the season’s final months.

In August 2020, total tonnage was nearly 31% behind the 2019 pace. That deficit steadily declined through the fall and early winter, boosted further by a robust January float during which total tonnage jumped 66% over the January 2019 total.

“The 2020 shipping season was obviously very difficult, and the port’s tonnage total reflects that, but the late-season rally was encouraging,” said Deb DeLuca, Executive Director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. “With mines reopening, steel demand rising and COVID vaccinations beginning, it hints at hope for 2021.”

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/ports-terminals/28012021/2020-season-summary-for-the-port-of-duluth-superior/