Cargo Business Newswire

Monday, October 20, 2014

Great Lakes ports experience robust shipping season

Ports up and down the Great Lakes are experiencing a strong shipping season, with many struggling to keep up with cargo volumes that have returned to pre-recession levels.

According to numbers compiled by the American Great Lakes Ports Association, the region is experiencing the highest volumes since 2006.

"People are buying and selling and there's product that's needed and wanted -- and it's being shipped," said Laura Blades, a spokeswoman for the ports association.

"Even ports like Oswego (NY) and Erie (PA) are up. It's kind of the race to make up for the bad weather at the start of the season and the final push to get the shipping done before winter."

The volume of international freight coming through the Port of Cleveland is up nearly 20 percent over last year. David Gutheil, the vice president of maritime and logistics at the Port of Cleveland, said rising steel imports are a sign of increased manufacturing.

Betty Sutton, the administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., said the Seaway and the ports deserve some credit for the region's economic comeback

"September marks the beginning of what is traditionally the busiest time of the shipping season, and the cargo moving through the U.S. ports serves as a positive indicator that the regional economy is healthy due in part to the maritime industry," she said in a statement. "The numbers speak for themselves - increases in tonnage were reported by all our ports and they expect that trend to continue through December."

For more of the Cleveland.com story: www.cleveland.com

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