Shipments Up at Ports of Indiana
(Image courtesy of the Ports of Indiana)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowNearly 5.7 million tons of cargo were shipped at the Ports of Indiana during the first six months of 2017, up 19 percent over the same period last year. Officials say the increase is mainly due to increased shipments of coal, ethanol, fertilizer, minerals and steel. The numbers represent the second-highest volume during the first two quarters of any year in Ports of Indiana history.
The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon saw the largest increase in shipments, moving 3.4 million tons during the first two quarters, a 38 percent increase over the previous year. Alliance Coal’s Mount Vernon Transfer Terminal saw a 76 percent increase in coal shipments. The Ports of Indiana says the completion of a multi-million dollar project by Valero Renewable Fuels also contributed to a 39 percent increase in ethanol tonnages.
The Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville shipped nearly 1.2 million tons of cargo, thanks in part to continue demand for steel from the U.S. auto industry. The organization says the port is on pace for its fourth-consecutive year of shipping more than two million tons.
Finally, the Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor shipped more than one million tons. The port saw increases in shipments of steel, coal, oils, and heavy-lift cargoes including wind tower sections and the world’s largest liquid argon particle hunter, known as ICARUS, which was making its way to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois.
The Burns Harbor port also celebrated the opening of California-based Metro Ports’ new bulk terminal facility. Officials, including Ports of Indiana Chief Executive Officer Rich Cooper spoke about the facility with Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick in a Studio(i) interview.