The group said coal shipments in the region totaled 25,347,709 tons in 2012, versus 27,161,116t in 2011, a reduction of 8.2%.

The total was more than 36% lower than 2008 – a peak year for the region with 39,790,490t – and reflected the lowest amount shipped in six years.

It was also down 25% from its five-year average.

Included in the totals, according to the association’s figures, were 15.1 million tons from Lake Superior ports, which were steady over 2011.

Loadings at terminals in Chicago were 3.2Mt, up over the five-year average but down nearly 15% from the prior year.

Shipments from Lake Erie ports were 7Mt, down 19% year-on-year, while 1.3Mt were shipped to Québec City for overseas delivery.

Norfolk Southern’s Sandusky terminal in Ohio shipped 3,032,083t last year, versus 2,942,869t in 2011.

The facility saw a 3% increase in part because it ships domestic thermal coal as well as metallurgical coal headed for Canada.

The railroad’s other terminal in Ashtabula, which ships mostly domestic thermal tonnage, shipped 1,662,189t in 2012 compared year-on-year with 2,082,986t.

A key issue in the Great Lakes region in 2012 was inadequate dredging and falling water levels – according to estimates from the Army Corps of Engineers, approximately 17 million cubic yards of sediment must be removed from waterways and ports before full loads can again be carried.

The LCA said the largest coal cargo shipped through the locks at Sault Ste Marie in Michigan last month totaled 62,043t, and the largest coal cargo to be transported through the locks during 2012 was 64,706t.

The LCA represents 17 American companies operating 57 vessels on the Great Lakes shipping coal as well as iron ore, fluxstone, aggregate and cement, salt, sand and grain at a rate of about 115Mt per year.