This article has been reprinted from the March 14 USDA Grain Transportation Report.
Export Sales
For the week ending February 28, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 33.3 mmt.
This marks an 8 percent reduction from the same period last year.
Net weekly wheat export sales were .622 mmt, up 31 percent from the previous week.
Net corn export sales totaled .970 mmt, down 20 percent from the previous week.
Net soybean export sales were .312 mmt, down 85 percent from the past week.
Rail
U.S. Class I railroads originated 20,314 grain carloads for the week ending March 2, which is down 6 percent from the previous week, 13 percent from last year, and 12 percent from the 3-year average.
Average March shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $1,796 above tariff for the week ending March 7.
This is down $265 from last week, and up $446 from last year.
Average non-shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers were $438 above tariff, up $163 from last week.
There were no non-shuttle bids/offers this week last year.
Barge
For the week ending March 9, barge grain movements totaled 361,522 tons.
This is 53 percent higher than the previous week and up 1 percent from the same period last year.
For the week ending March 9, 248 grain barges moved down river.
This is 87 barges more than the previous week.
There were 486 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 5 percent lower than the previous week.
Ocean
For the week ending March 7, 29 ocean-going grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf.
This is 26 percent less than the same period last year.
Fifty-eight vessels are expected to be loaded within the next 10 days, 13 percent less than the same period last year.
For the week ending March 7, the ocean freight rate for shipping bulk grain from the Gulf to Japan was $40.00 per metric ton.
This is 1 percent more than the previous week.
The cost of shipping from the PNW to Japan was $23.00 per metric ton, 1 percent more than the previous week.