SW Indiana port handles record cargo during 1st half of 2018

MOUNT VERNON, Ind. (AP) - A state agency says Indiana's Mount Vernon port along the Ohio River handled more cargo during the first half of 2018 than any port in Indiana history.

The Ports of Indiana Commission says the port near Evansville handled about 4.7 million tons of cargo between January and June. That's a 36 percent increase from the same time last year.

The commission attributes the cargo record at the far southwestern Indiana port to record-breaking demand for coal and agriculture products.

The port's achievement follows its record-breaking shipping year in 2017.

Port Director Phil Wilzbacher says the Mount Vernon port is the sixth-largest inland port district in the nation.

Indiana's two other ports are on the Ohio River in Jeffersonville and along Lake Michigan at Burns Harbor.