Summer sailings bring breadth of cargo to Duluth-Superior

Duluth-Superior is now a hub for high, wide and heavy project cargoes.

Boosted by 19.6mt (million metric tonnes) last year, the Port of Duluth-Superior’s alltime iron ore tonnage total recently topped three billion tonnes since the first shipment sailed in October 1892.

No United States port ships more iron ore, a fact that helped establish DuluthSuperior’s early reputation as a bulk natural resources port. Of course, since the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System opened in 1959, Duluth-Superior’s cargo portfolio has expanded greatly with its emergence as North America’s furthestinland seaport. Now a hub for high, wide and heavy project cargoes and containers moving through the continent’s midsection, Duluth-Superior is far more than just a bulk port, but bulk still drives its Great Lakes-leading tonnage totals.

Through midsummer, that tonnage topped 11mt in 2024, paced by more than 8mt of iron ore . The port also tallied nearly 700,000 metric tonnes of coal sailing from its docks, an increase of 49% compared to the 2023 pace. Limestone, grain, salt and cement shipments rounded out the port’s dry bulk leaderboard.

Despite ascending bulk tonnage totals, general cargo shipments lassoed more of the spotlight this summer with Duluth Cargo Connect welcoming multiple shipments of 80-metre wind turbine blades, the lengthiest ever shipped through the port, and several industrial heavy-lift pieces destined for locations throughout the American and Canadian northwest.

“It was an excellent first half of the season for general cargo moving across our docks,” said Deb DeLuca, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. “All of those oversize cargoes have been an impressive sight and a good addition to the cargo activity in DuluthSuperior. Seeing it move efficiently to and from our port underscores the importance of robust terminal facilities and transportation infrastructure. We’re fortunate to have both here at the Head of the Lakes, and it’s been on full display this summer, especially with those very long wind blades moving smoothly from ship to shore to rail.”

Iron ore tonnage through the Port of Duluth-Superior recently topped three billion tonnes.