The Port of Cleveland is a bulk freight and container shipping port at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the third-largest port in the Great Lakes and the fourth-largest Great Lakes port by annual tonnage. Over 23,000 jobs and $7.07 billion in annual economic activity are tied to the roughly 13 million tons of cargo that move through Cleveland Harbor each year.

The Port of Cleveland is the only container port on the Great Lakes, with bi-weekly service between Cleveland and Antwerp on a service called the Cleveland-Europe Express.

In October 2025, Jeff Epstein took over as CEO. Epstein was previously Cleveland's chief of integrated development.https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/09/02/jeff-epstein-port-of-cleveland-ceo

Cargo The Port of Cleveland handles the bulk of raw material shipments for regional manufacturing, as well as exporting some local resources (salt mined from under Lake Erie, materials quarried locally, Ohio farm surpluses).

Primary Cargoes Inbound: Steel, heavy machinery, iron ore, limestone, liquid/dry bulk items, and shipping containers Outbound: Steel, iron ore, limestone, cement, salt, power generators, wind turbines, capital equipment, and heavy machinery

Overall Annual Tonnage Generating $3.5 billion per year in trade. Annual cargo handling averages between 11 million to 16 million tons Dry Bulk (loose materials such as limestone, iron ore and grain): 12 million tons Break Bulk (packaged materials): 500,000 tons about 1,000 vessel visits,

+ Tonnage for Port of Cleveland Year U.S.Rank TotalTons DomesticTons ForeignTotalTons ForeignImportsTons ForeignExportsTons Reference 2006 44 15,186,819 11,467,131 3,719,688 3,598,998 120,690 2005 47 13,640,966 10,225,360 3,415,606 3,137,262 278,344 2004 44 15,774,611 11,855,282 3,919,329 3,567,866 351,463 2003 47 12,620,794 9,508,542 3,112,252 2,708,093 404,159 2002 48 11,411,765 9,083,965 2,327,800 2,270,800 57,000 2001 48 11,937,815 9,203,587 2,734,228 2,430,028 304,200 2000 44 14,390,802 11,914,437 2,476,365 2,262,104 214,261

+ Break- and Dry- Bulk Tonnage for Port of Cleveland Year Dry Bulkshort Tons Break Bulkshort Tons 2000 1,028,500 949,552 1999 934,306 721,369 1998 1,239,551 1,182,792 1997 1,521,729 1,045,377 1996 1,809,000 1,158,056 1995 1,531,985 779,314 1994 1,899,989 869,669 1993 2,069,184 764,743 1992 2,700,842 435,286 1991 2,852,675 913,670 1990 3,038,535 773,922

Connections

Rail Connections to: (2) Class I railroads: CSX Transportation Norfolk Southern Railway and several regional/short-line railroads: Cleveland Terminal and Valley Railway ISG Cleveland Works Railway Company Newburgh and South Shore Railroad R. J. Corman Railroad Cleveland Line Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway

Truck Port has truck access to four major Interstate highways: I-71, South to: Strongsville, Seville, Columbus and Cincinnati I-77, South to: Akron, Canton, Richfield, Cambridge, Marietta; Beckley, West Virginia and Columbia, South Carolina I-80/Ohio Turnpike, *East to: Streetsboro, Youngstown; and Pennsylvania Turnpike *West to: North Ridgeville, Lorain, Toledo; and Indiana Toll Road I-90, *East to: Euclid, Ohio, Willoughby; Erie, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York *West to: Westlake, Elyria, Toledo; and South Bend, Indiana as well as local bypasses/connectors: I-271, I-480, and I-490; and Ohio State Routes, such as: Ohio State Route 2 *East to: Euclid and Painesville *West to: Rocky River and Elyria

Facilities

Eight international cargo berths and docks consist of of land alongside Lake Erie on the east side of the Cuyahoga River, while the Cleveland Bulk Terminal transshipment facility occupies just west of the river.

Geography The Port of Cleveland spans across the Cleveland Harbor on Lake Erie and up the Cuyahoga River to the turning basin.

+ Port of Cleveland Name USGSGNISFeatureID #andLink Coordinates Elevation Cleveland Harbor Cuyahoga River Turning Basin

Maritime Docks are maintained at a full Great Lakes seaway depth, which is .

Operators Four terminal operators use port facilities: Carmeuse NA Essroc (Italcementi) Kenmore Construction Fednav

Cleveland Bulk Terminal Cleveland Bulk Terminal (CBT), located at 5500 Whiskey Island Drive, on Whiskey Island, is port-owned but operated by Carmeuse NA which handles iron ore transfers. The lakefront facility can accommodate vessels used to discharge and reload rail cars. The automated CBT iron ore loader system on Whiskey Island on the west side of the Cuyahoga River loads materials onto boats from the terminal and transfers materials at a rate of 5,200 tons per hour. Limited handling of materials greatly improves the quality of pellets delivered to the mill. The ore loader operation benefits three Cleveland companies: Cleveland-Cliffs — supplier of iron ore pellets, uses iron ore pellets at its steel mills, and coke plants Carmeuse NA — CBT operator and materials transporter

Terminals These facilities are: Nine berths and docks in either open dock or two-berth facilities Capacity for lifting up to 150 net tons Direct rail access and warehousing ability Over of linear dock space, of warehouse space and of open storage for general cargo operations.

+ Port of Cleveland Terminals Dock Coordinates BerthLength WarehouseStorage Facilities Tenants 20 dry bulk, outside storage, cement Essroc (Italcementi Group) and Kenmore Construction 22 Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. 24 24: A: 24: A: 30-ton overhead cranes Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. 26 26: Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. 28 Buckeye Booster: heavy 150-ton capacity lift crane Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. 30 Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. 32 City of Cleveland, Ohio used for non-Maritime development including the new Lake Shore Electric Railway interurban museum (since 2006). CBT Outside storage: Carmeuse NA Totals

Foreign Trade Zones Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, Grantee #40, operates-owns several General Purpose Zone Foreign Trade Zones in Cuyahoga County, Ashtabula County and Lorain County.

Port of Cleveland Port of Cleveland complex located on Lake Erie at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River includes five general cargo facilities operated by port-approved stevedoring contractors.

Tow Path Valley Business Park Tow Path Valley Business Park is located on both sides of the east and west bank of the Cuyahoga River bordered by Jennings Road on the south, Upper Campbell Road on the east, I-490/I-77/Dille Road on the north and West 14th Street to the west.

See also List of North American ports List of ports in the United States

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