Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor has second-best June ever

Stevedores at the port have been unloading a lot of coal, steel, limestone, fertilizer, oils and recycled rubber. Last month, they handled a lot of large project cargo, including container cranes bound for intermodal yards in the Midwest.

"New shipments of intermodal cranes helped drive June's maritime port cargo numbers above the same period last year," Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor Port Director Rick Heimann said. "We've had multiple large cranes and containers of crane components arrive by ship from Europe that will be used to handle containers in multiple intermodal yards around the Midwest. June cargo volumes were also helped by new outbound shipments of recycled rubber and strong volumes of bulk commodities for use in the steel-making process by ArcelorMittal."

Two iron ore boats were headed for ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor in East Chicago Monday evening.

Overall shipping through the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the passage that connects Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, has been a little slower this year.  

"Although the overall cargo numbers remain down when compared to the same time frame last year, in June we were above the five-year average," said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp.  "Imports arriving in the Great Lakes Seaway System kept longshoremen busy during the month of June.  About 45 ships arrived from 19 different countries with high value cargo like windmill components, machinery, aluminum ingots, steel, sugar, and general cargo."

The United States receives commodities and finished goods through the Seaway, and ships out mostly agricultural products to foreign markets.