Depressed year for iron ore

Iron ore consumption in the United States during 1986 fell more than 13% from the previous year, the American Iron Ore Association (AIOA) reports. In Canada, consumption fell 5.5%.

Consumption in the U.S. in 1986 was 55.3 million gross tons, compared with 63.7 million tons in 1985. Consumption in December was 3.9 million tons compared with 5.1 million tons for the same month in 1985.

In Canada, 1986 consumption totalled 14 million tons compared with 14.8 million tons in 1985. Consumption in December was 1.3 million tons, up slightly from the 1.2 million tons consumed in December, 1985.

“Consumption in 1986 barely surpassed the 1982 level of 55.2 million tons, the industry’s worst year since AIOA began publishing statistics,” Chairman Robert McInnes said. “Unless there is a dramatic upsurge in steel industry business, and no one is forecasting that, 1987 will likely be another depressed year for iron ore.”

Iron ore inventories in the United States stood at 22.2 million tons at year-end, well below the 28.3 million tons at the end of 1985. Canadian inventories were at 9.8 million tons in December, compared with 11 million at the same time last year.

The only shipping activity at United States and Canadian Great Lakes ports in January occurred in Marquette, Mich., where shipments totalled 22,761 tons.