Iron ore, global trade slow shipping season at Duluth-Superior
Last month, the Soo Locks closed, ending a shipping season the Duluth Seaway Port Authority described as “challenging.”
Total waterborne tonnage in 2025 fell to 25.3 million short tons, a 14.6% decline from 2024 and 16% below the five-season average, according to the Port Authority.
“Anything that affects global trade affects our port, and we certainly felt some of those effects,” Jayson Hron, director of communications and marketing for the Port Authority told WTIP. “And of course, that conversation starts with iron ore here in Northeast Minnesota.”
Hron said the Duluth-Superior harbor handled about 3 million fewer tons of iron ore than the previous year. Silver Bay and Two Harbors also saw declines. The drop was largely tied to the Algoma Steel facility in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, as it transitions from blast furnace to electric arc furnace steelmaking.
The Port Authority expects iron ore shipments to rebound in 2026 as the facility reopens.
Coal shipments continued a long-term decline, Hron said, but 2025 marked a milestone year for wind energy cargo.
“So as you see that energy shift away from coal, you also see some new types of energy coming on board, and some old types that we continue to support as well. So that was some of the positives,” Hron said.
International shipping posed the greatest challenge. Total Canadian trade dropped 41% compared to 2024 across all cargo categories, according to the Port Authority. Overseas trade fell 30% to its lowest level since before the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959. Grain tonnage declined to its lowest level since 1890.
“It was definitely a challenging year overall, for the ports, for our port, for a lot of the US ports on the Great Lakes,” Hron said. “Obviously, there was heightened trade uncertainty and also some market shifts.”
The shipping season ended with six vessels remaining in port at Superior, Wisconsin, where they will undergo maintenance and improvements ahead of the 2026 season, which begins March 25.
WTIP’s CJ Heithoff spoke to Jayson Hron about the 2025 shipping season. Audio from that conversation is available below.
Josh Hinke February 7, 2026
