This article has been reprinted from the Sept. 5 USDA Grain Transportation Report.
Export Sales
For the week ending August 22, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 10.5 mmt.
This indicates a 14 percent decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year.
Net corn export sales were negative .003 mmt, down significantly from the previous week.
Net soybean export sales were .095 mmt, up noticeably from the past week. Net weekly wheat export sales reached .662 mmt, up 11 percent from the from the previous week.
Rail
U.S. Class I railroads originated 21,209 grain carloads during the week ending August 24.
This is a 7 percent increase from the previous week, 4 percent less than last year, and unchanged from the 3-year average.
Average September shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $288 below tariff for the week ending August 29.
This is $156 less than last week and $277 lower than this week last year.
There were no non-shuttle bids/offers this week.
Barge
For the week ending August 31, barge grain movements totaled 728,200 tons.
This is an 18 percent decrease from the previous week and 30 percent less than the same period last year.
For the week ending August 31, 465 grain barges moved down river.
This is 99 fewer barges than the previous week.
There were 642 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 7 percent more than the previous week.
Ocean
For the week ending August 29, 35 ocean-going grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf.
This is 5 percent fewer than the same period last year.
Forty-six vessels are expected to be loaded within the next 10 days.
This is 19 percent fewer than the same period last year. As of August 29, the rate for shipping a metric ton (mt) of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $51.75.
This is 1 percent more than the previous week.
The rate from the PNW to Japan was $29.25 per mt, 3 percent more than the previous week.
Fuel
For the week ending September 2, the U.S. average diesel fuel price decreased 0.7 cents from the previous week to $2.976 per gallon.
This price is 27.6 cents less than the same week last year.