This article has been reprinted from the May 30 USDA Grain Transportation Report.
Export Sales
For the week ending May 16, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 24 mmt.
This indicates a 19 percent decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year.
Net weekly wheat export sales were .048 mmt, down 58 percent from the previous week.
Net corn export sales totaled .442 mmt, down 20 percent from the previous week.
Net soybean export sales totaled .536 mmt, up 45 percent from the past week.
Rail
U.S. Class I railroads originated 23,194 grain carloads for the week ending May 18.
This is 4 percent lower than the previous week, up 4 percent from last year, and 6 percent above the 3-year average.
Average June shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $22 below tariff for the week ending May 23.
This is $136 above last week and $322 lower than last year.
There were no non-shuttle bids/offers this week.
Barge
For the week ending May 25, barge grain movements totaled 542,150 tons.
This is 47 percent more than the previous week and 27 percent lower than the same period last year.
For the week ending May 25, 324 grain barges moved down river.
This is 114 more barges than the previous week.
There were 432 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans. This is 16 percent lower than the previous week.
Ocean
For the week ending May 23, 36 ocean-going grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf.
This is 16 percent more than the same period last year.
Forty-two vessels are expected to be loaded within the next 10 days. This is 11 percent more than the same period last year.
As of May 23, the rate for shipping a metric ton (mt) of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $43.50.
This is 1 percent more than the previous week.
The rate from the Pacific Northwest to Japan was $24.00 per mt, a 2 percent increase from the previous week.
Fuel
For the week ending May 27, the U.S. average diesel fuel price decreased 1.2 cents, from the previous week, to $3.151 per gallon.
This price is 13.7 cents below the same week last year.