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There will be fewer colorful, ocean-going vessels known as “salties” for tourists to gawk at along the Duluth Ship Canal in coming months. 

That’s because the CHS-owned grain terminal in Superior, Wis., the largest grain terminal in the Duluth-Superior port, is permanently closing at the end of August. 

Twenty-three employees will be laid off on Sept. 8. CHS Inc. said it expects to lay off two additional employees around the end of the year, according to a 

 the Twin Cities-based company filed with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development on Thursday. 

CHS did not give a reason for the closure beyond citing “shifts in how grain flows through our supply chain.” In a statement, the company said it’s focused on “driving growth and efficiency for the future” and remains “committed to serving our farmers in the region providing access to global markets.” 

The CHS facility on the Superior side of the Duluth-Superior harbor stores grain in more than 500 towering concrete silos. 

Recently those silos have loaded around 40 huge cargo ships with grain every year. The ships often carry durum wheat through the Great Lakes and across the Atlantic to Mediterranean ports in Europe and northern Africa, where it’s made into pasta and couscous. 

But grain exports from the Lake Superior port have plummeted in recent years.

fewer ships brought products into the Great Lakes

 from other countries.  CHS officials told MPR News in 2023 that vessels need to carry imports into the region, for it to make financial sense to come all the way to Duluth-Superior to pick up grain to carry back overseas.

Grain exports have also been harmed by several other compounding factors. In 2021, a severe drought in the Midwest caused grain prices to spike. Aggressive competition from Russia, Turkey and Argentina also hurt the port. 

As a result, grain exports dropped by 42 percent in 2021, the largest year-over-year decline in the port’s history. Grain tonnage declined again the following year, before rebounding slightly the past two years. 

Grain shipping out of the Port of Duluth-Superior peaked in the late 1970s at more than 10 million tons. Today, that’s dropped to well below one million tons.

The closure of the CHS terminal is a “disappointing blow to the Port of Duluth-Superior and the community as a whole,” said the Duluth Seaway Port Authority in a statement. 

“Most immediately, our thoughts are with the employees who will be affected by this decision. We will work with the City of Superior to seek solutions that could lead to a more positive outcome, and hopefully, continued use of this grain terminal.”

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The CHS grain terminal in Superior, Wis., with 500 silos, the largest terminal in the port of Duluth-Superior, will permanently close at the end of August and 25 employees will be laid off. 

Largest grain terminal in the Duluth-Superior port set to close

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