Source: Port of Toledo Facebook pageTOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Officials at the Port of Toledo are blaming record-low coal business and a drop in salt shipments after a warm winter for a nearly 13% decline in cargo traffic last year.
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority's year-end statistics show ships loaded or unloaded just more than 10 million tons of cargo in Toledo last year, down 12.95% from the 11.5 million tons that crossed the docks in 2011.
The Blade newspaper (http://bit.ly/Wyhlwt ) reports that coal led the decline. Coal shipments dropped to around 2.4 million tons - the lowest volume since the port started keeping records in 1947. Officials say that's because electric utilities facing clean-air mandates are using less coal.
An increase in the grain business was among the port's bright spots in 2012.
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