WASHINGTON: Shipments during the first nine months of 2017 at the Ports of Indiana were up more than 10 percent compared to the same time period last year. Total tons handled reached over 8.1 million, the second highest volume during the first three quarters of any year in the organization’s 56-year history. The growth was primarily due to increased shipments of coal, steel, fertilizer and ethanol.
The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon’s volume for the first nine months of 2017 rose to over 4.5 million tons, up 15 percent versus 2016 figures and the second highest ever at the port for that time period. The port is on track for a third-consecutive year of exceeding 6 million tons. Coal and ethanol shipments have remained strong and were up 31 and 34 percent, respectively, compared to last year. There were also significant increases in shipments of salt (54 percent), fertilizer (49 percent) and minerals (32 percent). Shipments at the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville for the first three quarters of the year reached over 1.6 million tons and remain strong, driven, in part, by auto- and construction-related steel processing. In September, the port’s ‘steel campus’ celebrated the opening of POSCO, the world’s fifth largest steelmaker. The nine-month tonnage for 2017 was 9 percent higher than the previous five-year average and the port continues to track towards a fourth-consecutive year of handling in excess of two million tons of cargo.
The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor handled two million tons from January through September this year, recording not only the second-highest total for that nine-month time period, but also the second highest September in the port’s history. Overall shipments for the first three quarters of 2017 rose nearly 11 percent while steel cargoes were up nearly 49 percent, oils up 40 percent and grains up nearly 14 percent, compared to last year. Ship and barge traffic were both up 20 percent during the first three quarters. Shipments included Midwest soybeans headed to Spain and several vessels carrying over-sized cargoes, such as windmill components and ICARUS, the world’s largest liquid argon particle hunter and the most valuable piece of cargo ever handled at the port. The multi-million dollar instrument was shipped from Geneva, Switzerland, to Fermilab in Batavia, Ill., with #IcarusTrip recording nearly 1,500 tweets of photos and sightings on Twitter during the trip. About the Ports of Indiana: The Ports of Indiana is a statewide port authority managing three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan. Established in 1961, the Ports of Indiana is a self-funded enterprise dedicated to growing Indiana’s economy by developing and maintaining a world-class port system.
