Wisconsin’s Shipping Season Gets Underway

Ports around Wisconsin are gearing up for the start of the shipping season, as the first lake vessels head out from Duluth-Superior. The Edwin H. Gott and Philip R. Clark are already making their way to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and the Soo Locks are set to open this Friday.

Duluth Seaway Port Authority Spokeswoman Adele Yorde said a warmer winter should make for smooth sailing.

“The downside is that it won’t be a swift and brisk start to a season. We’re coming off some pretty low prices for commodities, particularly iron ore,” she said.

The amount of domestic iron ore moving through the Twin Ports dropped by about 18 percent last year due to a glut of foreign steel. Around 10.1 million tons were shipped from the Iron Range to the lower lakes, which is down from close to 12.4 million the previous year.

“The hope is, as we’re watching iron ore prices start to stabilize and increase slightly and we’re seeing that the federal government is taking some action on stemming that flood of low-priced foreign steel, I think we’ll see things starting to pick up maybe by second and third quarter,” said Yorde.

In southeastern Wisconsin, Paul Vornholt, Milwaukee port director, said their overall shipments declined by roughly 5 percent due to a dip in salt and coal.

“We saw our last shipments of coal last year and that impacted what we had usually seen — upwards of 500,000 tons of coal in its heyday,” said Vornholt.

Vornholt said they hope to replace coal with bottom ash, a byproduct of coal burned in power plants.

Around 250 ships move through the Port of Milwaukee each year. Last year, the Twin Ports saw 757 U.S. flag vessels and oceangoing ships, which is down from the 901 ships that visited the Duluth-Superior port in 2014.