In the period to end April, total traffic on the St. Lawrence Seaway was down nearly 7% at 4 million tonnes from a year ago amidst early spring ice conditions and speed limits that impacted on shipping operations. The 2026 navigation season opened on March 22 on the Welland Canal and Montreal-Lake Ontario sections of the binational waterway.
Grain shipments for the period declined by nearly 20% at 1.28 million tonnes. Coal and liquid bulk were also down respectively 28% and 12.4%.
On the other hand, general cargo showed a 25.5% spike at 337,000 tonnes while iron ore increased by 11.8% to 577,000 tonnes.
Vessel transits totalled 438 versus 468.
(CSL photo)