This article has been reprinted from the May 9 USDA Grain Transportation Report.
Export Sales
For the week ending April 25, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 28.9 mmt.
This indicates a 16 percent decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year.
Net weekly wheat export sales were .122 mmt, down 71 percent from the previous week.
Net corn export sales totaled .587 mmt, down 25 percent from the previous week.
Net soybean export sales totaled .250 mmt, down 58 percent from the past week.
Rail
U.S. Class I railroads originated 25,048 grain carloads for the week ending April 27.
This is up 1 percent from the previous week, 5 percent from last year, and 11 percent from the 3-year average.
Average May shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $90 below tariff for the week ending May 2, down $181 from last week, and $281 below last year.
Average non-shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers were $263 above tariff, down $88 from last week, and $805 below last year.
Barge
For the week ending May 4, barge grain movements totaled 498,644 tons.
This is 18 percent higher than the previous week and 44 percent lower than the same period last year.
For the week ending May 4, 307 grain barges moved down river.
This is 39 more barges than the previous week.
There were 559 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 6 percent less than the previous week.
Ocean
For the week ending May 2, 27 ocean-going grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf.
This is 18 percent less than the same period last year.
Sixty-seven vessels are expected to be loaded within the next 10 days.
This is 68 percent more than the same period last year. As of May 2, the rate for shipping a metric ton (mt) of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $42.50.
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 May 6, the U.S. average diesel fuel price increased 0.2 cents, from the previous week, to $3.171 per gallon.
This price is unchanged from the same week last year.