It is reported that 24,500 tons of iron ore from Mittal Steel US majority owned Hibbing Taconite is loaded onto the Bahamian ocean vessel Goviken at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe dock in Allouez in Superior for shipment to Mittal Steel Anaba in Algeria.

This is considered highly unusual and has not been done in past. China is among countries that previously have purchased Iron Range ore but shipping directly overseas to Algeria is a first. An iron industry analyst Mr Peter Kakela professor of Michigan State University said "I think it's a big deal."

Mr Dan Sydow manager of Fedmar International the Goviken's Duluth based vessel agent said that Mittal Steel is conducted an experiment to see the feasibility in terms of logistics and compatibility with Annaba blast furnace. Mr Sydow said that “If the test proves successful, they're talking about a couple of shipments a month next year from BNSF.”