This article has been reprinted from the May 2 USDA Grain Transportation Report.
Export Sales
For the week ending April 18, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 30.3 mmt.
This indicates a 13 percent drop in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year.
Net weekly wheat export sales were .425 mmt, up 34 percent from the previous week.
Net corn export sales totaled .780 mmt, down 18 percent from the previous week.
Net soybean export sales totaled .595 mmt, up 56 percent from the past week.
Rail
U.S. Class I railroads originated 24,770 grain carloads for the week ending April 20.
This is up 14 percent from the previous week, 4 percent lower than last year, and 10 percent above the 3-year average.
Average May shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $92 above tariff for the week ending April 25.
This is up $217 from last week and $508 below last year. Average non-shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers were $350 above tariff, down $300 from last week.
There were no non-shuttle bids/offers this week last year.
Barge
For the week ending April 27, barge grain movements totaled 423,900 tons.
This is 10 percent lower than the previous week and 43 percent lower than the same period last year.
For the week ending April 27, 268 grain barges moved down river.
This is 19 fewer barges than the previous week.
There were 595 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 3 percent lower than the previous week.
Ocean
For the week ending April 25, 34 ocean-going grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf.
This is unchanged from the same period last year.
Forty-nine vessels are expected to be loaded within the next 10 days.
This is 14 percent more than the same period last year.
As of April 25, the rate for shipping a metric ton (mt) of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $42.25.
This is 1 percent more than the previous week.
The rate for the Pacific Northwest to Japan was $23.00 per mt.
This is unchanged from the previous week.
Fuel
For the week ending April 29, the U.S. average diesel fuel price increased 2.2 cents, from the previous week, to $3.169 per gallon.
This is 1.2 cents above the same week last year.