Great Lakes Limestone Trade Down 9% in 2016
Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 26.3 million tons in 2016, a decrease of 9.3 percent compared to 2015, reported Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA). Loadings in 2016 were also 5.3 percent below the trade’s five-year average.
Loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 21.4 million tons, a decrease of nearly 13 percent compared to 2015, according to LCA. Shipments from U.S. quarries also trailed their five-year average by 8.6 percent.
Shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 5 million tons, an increase of 10.5 percent over 2015 and 12.4 percent better than their five-year average, LCA said.