Total waterborne tonnage through the Port of Duluth-Superior declined 6.8 percent compared to the 2023 season, finishing the 2024 navigation season at 29.6 million short tons.
 
Diminished iron ore shipments drove the decline, as taconite totals fell from a 28-season high in 2023 to 19.4 million tons in 2024. While still exceeding the five-season average for iron ore, this figure represents a 10.4 percent year-over-year decrease.
 
Despite overall tonnage falling 4 percent short of the five-season average, the 2024 campaign included several successes:
 
  • Maritime import/export tonnage finished the season nearly 15 percent ahead of last year’s pace, driven primarily by a 31 percent increase in export tonnage. Spring wheat led the boost in exports, more than tripling the 2023 tonnage total.
  • Buoyed by a fourth-quarter rally, waterborne grain tonnage approached 794,000 short tons, its best mark since 2021.
  • Breakbulk cargoes moving through Duluth’s Clure Public Marine Terminal climbed 70 percent year over year, destined for locations as distant as the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada.
  • Wind energy cargoes posted their highest volume since 2020.
  • Duluth Cargo Connect freight tonnage (including sea, road and rail) topped 500,000 tons, a year-over-year increase of approximately 21 percent and the highest total since 2020.
  • Spliethoff added regular trans-Atlantic liner service between Duluth and the Mediterranean, augmenting the Duluth-Antwerp service it launched in 2023, which was the port’s first regular trans-Atlantic liner service since the 1970s.
  • Limestone deliveries via ship topped 3.3 million short tons, the most since 2019.
  • Low-sulfur coal tonnage, still above 5.5 million short tons, posted a modest year-over-year increase.
  • 58 oceangoing ships called at Duluth-Superior, an increase of eight over the previous season.
  • For the second consecutive season, more than 4,000 cruise ship passengers visited Duluth, including a portion who booked flights and hotel stays in the city during multiple cruise ship turnaround calls.