GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Despite a challenging year due to the pandemic, the Port of Green Bay nearly reached its cargo goal.
The 2020 shipping season saw 1,922,608 total tons of cargo move into and out of the port, a drop of about 15% from the robust 2019 shipping season when cargo shipments reached 2,256,085 tons.
In a statement Dean Haen, Port of Green Bay Director, says the goal each year is to reach or top 2 million tons for the shipping season.
“While we got off to a good start in 2020, the numbers took a hit as the pandemic continued and had an impact on the overall economy. While 2020 was down compared to the last two shipping seasons, it was actually better than 2016 and 2017; an indication of a strong shipping season when you factor in the reduced business due to the pandemic. This shipping season was about 3% below our 5-year average.”
The leading cargo categories continued to be limestone, cement and salt.
For 2020, imports of limestone reached just more than 570,000 tons (down 19% from 2019), while salt imports topped 415,000 tons (up 7%). More than 380,000 tons of cement were also imported through the Port of Green Bay during the just-completed shipping season (up 25%). On the export side, petroleum products continued to lead the way at 67,000 tons, but it was a decline of nearly 45% from the previous year.
In total last year, 164 vessels moved through the Port of Green Bay, compared to 177 from the previous year.
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