NEW YORK — Coal shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 25.35 million tons last year, down 8.2 percent from 27.62 million tonnes in 2011, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association.

Coal shipments from ports on Lake Superior totaled nearly 15.1 million tons, about even with 2011. Loadings at terminals in Chicago totaled 3.24 million tons, a 14.5-percent decrease from 2011, while shipments from ports on Lake Erie totaled 7 million tons, a decrease of nearly 19 percent.

"The effects of falling water levels and lack of adequate dredging were clearly evident as the year came to a close," the Rocky River, Ohio-based association said. "The largest coal cargo shipped through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., in December totaled 62,043 tons." 

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Steel First.