The Port of Green Bay tonnage remains on pace for a “healthy year,” despite a slight decrease in October shipments.
The monthly tonnage report released Wednesday for October indicates the port brought in approximately 274,000 metric tons of cargo, a decrease of about 116,000 tons from October 2013. Total tonnage for 2014 remains about 3 percent higher than last year.
“Although we had a dip in October tonnage compared to last year, we are still on track to meet our goal of more than 2 million tons for this shipping season,” said Dean Haen, director of Brown County Port and Resource Recovery. “Anything over 2 million tons is considered a healthy year, and that is what we are focused on right now.”
Haen says that although imports of cement are higher than this time last year, overall, the Port is seeing a shortage. “Cement production can’t keep up with demand at this point,” Haen stated. “If fact, demand has been so high that cement brought into the Port of Green Bay has been trucked to Illinois. Overall, we anticipate cement shipments and tonnage will be lower than last year.”
While there was a decline in coal, limestone and salt shipments in October, Haen noted the positive impact this year of new cargo shipped through the port. “New terminal operator, ACE Marine exported 13 tons of aluminum components to Marinette for ship building projects,” Haen said. “Sand is another new export that we have not had in the past. These new materials moving in and out of the Port have helped our numbers stay strong.”
The Port of Green Bay has 15 active terminal operators involved in shipping commodities.
