Indiana ports mark 5-year high

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Updated: February 21, 2012 8:31AM

Last year marked a rebound for the Ports of Indiana, as workers handled the largest amount of cargo — 8.1 million tons — since 2006.

Ports of Indiana CEO Rich Cooper said a 5 percent increase in shipments was fueled by new ethanol and dried distillers’ grains shipments combined with gains in limestone, salt and steel cargoes. The state’s three ports are at Burns Harbor on Lake Michigan and at Jeffersonville and Mount Vernon on the Ohio River.

“Despite continued economic uncertainties, this was the fourth consecutive year our ports experienced growth,” Cooper said. “Our 2011 shipments were nearly a million tons higher than the five-year average.”

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor moved 2 million tons of cargo in 2011, an increase of 10 percent over 2010. Burns Harbor experienced shipping increases in limestone (23 percent), steel (18 percent), fertilizer (61 percent), coal (44 percent) and salt (18 percent).

The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon handled its largest annual tonnage since 1994 and the third highest in the port’s 36-year history. The port handled 4.7 million tons in 2011, an increase of 12 percent over 2010 figures. Ethanol-related shipments played the biggest role in the increase, with Aventine Renewable Energy operating in its first full year at the port and other ethanol producers taking advantage of the port’s new rail-to-barge transloading facility.

The Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville handled 1.4 million tons in 2011 with salt shipments increasing 17 percent over 2010 figures. There were also small increases in coal and steel cargoes.