Grain Transportation Overview: 6/6/19

This article has been reprinted from the June 6 USDA Grain Transportation Report.

Export Sales

For the week ending May 23, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 22.9 mmt.

This indicates an 18 percent decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year. Net weekly wheat export sales were .153 mmt, up significantly from the previous week.

Net corn export sales totaled .907 mmt, up 105 percent from the previous week.

Net soybean export sales totaled .456 mmt, down 15 percent from the past week.

Rail

U.S. Class I railroads originated 22,495 grain carloads for the week ending May 25.

This is 3 percent lower than the previous week, up 13 percent from last year, and 4 percent below the 3-year average.

Average June shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $155 above tariff for the week ending May 30.

This is $177 above last week and $124 lower than last year. Average non-shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers were $169 above tariff, down $206 from last year.

There were no non-shuttle bids/offers last week.

Barge

For the week ending June 1, barge grain movements totaled 272,950 tons.

This is 50 percent lower than the previous week and 72 percent lower than the same period last year.

For the week ending June 1, 153 grain barges moved down river.

This is 171 fewer barges than the previous week.

There were 443 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans.

This is 3 percent higher than the previous week.

Ocean

For the week ending May 30, 26 ocean-going grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf.

This is 7 percent less than the same period last year.

Fifty-one vessels are expected to be loaded within the next 10 days.

This is 6 percent more than the same period last year.

As of May 30, the rate for shipping a metric ton (mt) of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $44.00.

This is 1 percent more than the previous week.

The rate from the Pacific Northwest to Japan was $24.25 per mt, a 1 percent increase from the previous week.