Indiana port handled second-highest annual volume since 1994

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in 2015 handled its second-highest annual volume since 1994.

The port handled 2.8 million tons of cargo last year, which was down from 2014's record total. Increased shipments of heavy-lift project cargoes (up 96 percent), carbon products (up 37 percent), limestone (up nearly 12 percent) and oils (up 72 percent) contributed to the 2015 total.

"Our port continues to be a major inland hub for heavy-lift cargoes as our terminal operators handled nearly double the number of large dimensional shipments during 2015 over the previous year," said Port Director Rick Heimann in a press release. "The port has received multiple shipments for regional breweries in recent years, including 36 beer fermentation tanks in 2015."

A key driver for the 2014 record, steel shipments declined last year but were "well ahead of the five-year average," port officials said.

"We continue to look for new opportunities to grow and diversify our product mix to withstand market swings and further improve our business," Heimann said. "Nearly $2 million was invested in port infrastructure in 2015 to increase cargo-handling capacity and improve multimodal connections for our port companies."

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor is operated by Ports of Indiana, a port authority managing three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan.