A coal terminal in Superior will terminate its operations this year as cargo shippers are moving less tonnage via the Great Lakes.
A decline in cargo moving across the Great Lakes via United States-flagged “lakers” has led to widely felt impacts in port towns, including at a major Superior coal terminal now slated to shutter its operations by this upcoming summer.
Total tonnage of all cargo moved across the Great Lakes via U.S.-flagged lake freighters declined 26 percent between 2006 and 2023, the last year available. Coal tonnage over that same period dropped 67 percent.
The latest impact of the precipitous drop, triggered by the transition away from coal-fired power plants, is being felt in Superior, where Midwest Energy Resources Co., owned by Michigan electric power utility DTE, has decided not to renew its 50-year lease of a coal terminal owned by Koch Industries. That facility transfers coal from rails to ships and has been in operation since 1976.
The terminal reached a peak of 22 million tons of coal in 2008, which accounted for roughly half of the total tonnage moving through the Port of Duluth-Superior. By comparison, it shipped just 5.6 million tons in 2023.
“There is still going to be a lot of iron ore (moving through Duluth and Superior) but in recent years coal has been 20 to 30 percent of what we ship out of here, so this is a huge loss,” said Scott Bjorklund, assistant director of the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center in Duluth.
There are 17 active docks in the area, he said, “but that is the only one in our harbor that ships coal.” Two of the 17 are ore docks. Five move grain. Different commodities generally require different types of docks and equipment. It’s possible the coal dock could at least theoretically be used for another commodity, but it would need to be rebuilt to handle ore, for instance.
Most of the coal long loaded onto the massive freighters — which can be 1,000 feet long — comes from mines in Wyoming and, after being loaded onto lakers in Superior, is moved to power plants in the lower Great Lakes region. Generations of Midwesterners have earned their livelihoods loading and unloading the big ships.
Superior Mayor Jim Paine in November told the Superior Telegram that terminal owners had been “planning a closure for years.” He added, however, the facility may represent an attractive investment opportunity for a new operator.
“That’s a very valuable dock,” Paine said of the terminal. “It’s a highly functional dock. It’s in good condition and it’s very large, so I’m very confident that we’ll be able to fill the space relatively quickly.”
Closing the terminal is expected to affect the jobs of 56 workers, unless a new operator signs a lease to take over operations at the facility before June.
There can be two or three of the massive freighters loading coal per week at the dock that is closing, according to Bjorklund. There will be fewer ships now, less tax revenue, fewer secondary jobs for electricians and railroad workers as well.
The coal facility’s slated closure comes on the heels of a decision by Minnesota-based CHS Inc. in July 2025 to shutter its Port of Duluth-Superior grain terminal, originally built in 1936. It wrote in a notice document that the decision was expected to affect the jobs of 23 workers by September and two others by December of that year.
CHS Inc. in 2023 reported its Superior terminal handled between 60 percent and 70 percent of the port’s total grain volume.
Paine said at the time he was “deeply disappointed” by CHS’s decision.
“While I know that this particular elevator has struggled in recent years and that this closure won’t come as a surprise to many employees, it’s still a major transition that will require significant work in the coming years,” he said. “Our first priority is helping all affected employees find new work and minimizing the impact of this event. Then we’ll work closely with CHS to ensure they meet all of their commitments to the site and hopefully facilitate a transition to a new operator.”
Each decision comes amid a more than decade-long decline in tonnage being shipped across the Great Lakes. Cargo shippers moved 25 million tons of coal via the Great Lakes in 2006, according to figures released by the Lake Carriers’ Association. That figure in 2023 was approximately 8.4 million.
While tonnages of iron ore and sand are surging among cargo shippers, according to LCA’s 2023 figures, overall tonnage is declining due to diminishing grain, coal and salt trade. These resources decreased by 11.8 percent, 9.7 percent, and 5.8 percent, respectively. Cement also dipped slightly by 0.4 percent.
Wisconsin’s Great Lakes shipping industry adds nearly $2 billion to the state economy, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains the locks allowing ships to pass from Lake Superior to lower lakes.
The Lake Carriers’ Association says the Great Lakes annually move about $15 billion worth of cargo, and reported that the industry has a $36 billion impact on the nation’s economy. It estimated the Great Lakes move about 160 million tons of cargo, with between 80 and 90 million tons being moved by U.S.-flag ships.
“241,286 jobs in Canada and the United States are in some way related to the cargo handled at the marine terminals located on the Great Lakes-Seaway system,” the association wrote in a 2023 economic impact study.
Jackson Walker is a native Wisconsinite and 2023 UW-Madison graduate. Mike Nichols is the President of the Badger Institute.
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