b'JULY 2025GREAT LAKES & ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY PORTS 25(TIMINGcontinued from page 24)Were receiving numerous calls, Gutheil says.t arIffsd rIvIngI nterest fOrp Ortm IlwauKeeAtPortMilwaukee,FTZinquirieshavealso spiked. We have several new operators participat-ing,aswellpendingapplications,MariaCartier, PortMilwaukeesMarketDevelopmentManager, says. Tariff possibilities are driving the interest by regional businesses.WidespreadrelieffollowedtheUSadminis-trations decision not to proceed within the Great Lakes and Seaway region with a $1.5-million tariff pershipcallby Chinese-made vesselsorcar-riersthathave Chinese-built vesselswithin their fleet or on order. If that had occurred, Port Mil- MV BBC HOUSTON has successfully completed her first passages through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System into waukeewouldLake Erie and back, marking the premiere for this vessel class which is dubbed LakerMax. have lost half its Maria Cartier, Port Milwaukeetrade,Cartier2.6 million freight tons of this cargo doing anotherTheporthasrequestedPortInfrastructure Market Development Manager says. Extensivegood year, Beardsley adds. DevelopmentProgramfundsfortheDuluthPort advocacywentHeavycargodeliveriesfortheminingindus- IntermodalTerminalExpansionprojectwhich intomakingtheUSadministrationawareofthetryhavealsobeensteady.Were16milesfromincludes reconstructing dock walls, razing several unintended consequences. the Mesabi Range, the premier supplier of US irongrain elevators, providing water for the areas rede-While the ports cargo is slightly down with saltore,sowereakeypartofshippingthatcargo,velopment, and creating 7.5 acres of laydown space. remaining stockpiled after a few mild winters, thealong with the required machinery, Beardsley says.In late May, the official opening of the $28-mil-year has started out strong on steel imports that wereWere also delivering components for the oil andlion dock restoration project in nearby Superior was likely ordered ahead of potential tariffs. The earliestgas industry as far as Western Canada. (TIMINGcontinued on page 26)calling international vessel arrived to load agricul-tural exports, particularly dried distilled grains with solubles as feedstock. Its the first time that DeLong, whichusuallyfocusesoncontainershipments,is moving agricultural products overseas in bulk and its proving highly successful, Cartier says. The $40-million DeLong Agriculture Maritime Export Facility that opened in 2023 has boosted the portsinternationalthroughputbyapproximately 12% and will boost it further with a $15.7-million planned expansion. p Ort Ofd uluthB usyAt the Port of Duluth, the season was delayed byiceconditionsinWhitefishBay,alongwith several vessels requiring maintenance before they could set out. Our general cargo terminal has been steadily busy since, but the rest is a mixed bag, saysKevinBeardsley,theDuluthSeawayPort Authoritys Director.Iron ore, which accounts for half our tonnage, is slightly down compared to 2024, but weve heard that domestic steel mills ramped up production in late June so were hoping for a positive outcome by the end of the season, Beardsley says. Grain is also off pace for various reasons that include global pric-ing competition and alternative routing.Inmid-July,CHSInc.announcedtheperma-nentclosureof its nearby Supe-rior grain termi-nal at the end of August. Demand formid-Western grainhadfallen toapproximately one million tonnes annuallycom-pared to 10 times that volume at its peak in the 1970s. Aprimaryfactor Kevin Beardsley, Director, islowerpric-Duluth Seaway Port Authority ing from Russia, Argentina, Brazil and Canada (with the exchange rate).The logistics chain has also changed to favourHARNESS THE GLOBAL POWER OF A GREAT LAKES PORT.grain being shipped by rail to coastal ports for load-ing onto Panamax ships rather than using Seaway- Regional, national and international logisticians count on Port Milwaukee for a turnkey approach sized vessels, Beardsley adds. Were helping theto solve their transportation and supply chain needs. Strategically located in the industrial center City of Superior to remarket the grain facility andof the U.S., Port Milwaukee provides premier access to domestic and world markets.theres already interest.Duluth is bustling in terms of project cargo, par-ticularly wind turbines and energy-related compo- VISIT PORTMILWAUKEE.COM . PORT @ MILWAUKEE.GOVnents. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first wind-energy cargo arriving at Duluth. By the end of this season, well have received more than'