Ports of Indiana logged 5 percent growth in 2017

The Ports of Indiana handled 11.8 million tons in 2017, a 5 percent increase from 2016 and the second-highest annual shipment total in the organization's 57-year history, port officials announced today.

Last year was the fourth consecutive year that the ports handled more than 10 million tons of cargo. Major cargo increases in 2017 included minerals, up 28 percent; limestone, up 26 percent; steel, fertilizer and ethanol, each up 14 percent; and coal, up 9 percent.

Shipments of heavy lift and project cargoes — such as turbines, laboratory equipment and mega storage tanks — rose 27 percent.

"The arrival of world-class companies like Metro Ports and POSCO Steel in 2017, combined with unprecedented shipping levels at Mount Vernon and the development of major expansions at Jeffersonville and Burns Harbor, have the Ports of Indiana well positioned to help drive long-term future growth of Indiana businesses and our state economy," said Rich Cooper, the ports' chief executive officer, in a press release.