Last year, a record 15.04 million metric tons moved through the port, surpassing the 14.7 million metric tons of taconite pellets. We'll do everything we can to break our record for the eighth consecutive year,'' said Fred Shusterich, MERC president. Coal demand currently is running high, according to Bill Watson, industrial economist with the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In the northern Appalachia area, coal transportation is pretty brisk right now. Coal is relatively inexpensive compared to other fuels,'' he said.
Eastern coal produces a significant amount of heat but also generates excessive air pollution.
To meet Clean Air Act standards, utilities mix it with low sulfur western coal, which is transshipped through Duluth-Superior. Shusterich predicted coal tonnage will expand to 18 million metric tons by 2004, representing 19.7 percent growth. That's nearly double the 10 percent decrease in waterborne taconite shipments between 1997 and 2000. The rise in natural gas prices will substantially increase inbound shipments of fertilizer to the port, according to Ron Johnson, Duluth Seaway Port Authority trade development director. Natural gas byproducts are used in the production of urea and ammonia fertilizers.