Led by strong increases in grain, general cargo and liquid bulk, shipping activity on the St. Lawrence Seaway is enjoying a robust 2024 navigation season.

According to statistics released by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation covering the period to end-July, total traffic on the North American waterway amounted to 15.95 million metric tons versus 16 million tons a year-earlier.

Year-to-date grain throughput totaled 4.3 million tons, up 9.3%. General cargo at 1.47 million tons spiked by 24% while liquid bulk at 1.9 million tons was up by 15.2%.

For the same period, iron ore posted a 14.7% decline at 2.6 million tons while dry bulk at 4.7 million tons showed a decline of 6.4%.

(Photo of Tim Dool vessel in bulker fleet of Algoma Central Corporation)