St. Lawrence Seaway grain movement up five per cent in 2023

Glacier FarmMedia—Grain movement through the St. Lawrence Seaway was up by five per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year, with Canadian wheat accounting for well over half of all the grain moved, according to a joint report from the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLMC) and the United States Great Lakes St. Lawrence Development Corporation (GLS) released May 27.

An estimated 10.5 million tonnes of grain moved through the shipping corridor during the season, with wheat accounting for 6.5 million tonnes of the total. Wheat movement was up by 28 per cent compared to 2022, and Canadian wheat accounted for just over 90 per cent of the wheat shipments.

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Canola shipments were up by 6.5 per cent on the year at 666,464 tonnes.

However, soybean shipments fell by 35.4 per cent at 1.5 million tonnes, while corn movement dipped by 7.0 per cent at 1.4 million.

Total cargo movement, including mining and processed products along with other miscellaneous cargo hit 37.6 million tonnes, which was up by 3.4 per cent on the year. Notable changes included a 14.0 per cent increase in coal at 2.0 million tonnes and a 1.9 per cent increase in iron ore to 6.3 million tonnes.

The 2023 St. Lawrence Seaway shipping season was one of the longest on record, running from March 22 through January 7.