This article has been reprinted from the USDA Sept. 19 Grain Transportation Report.
Export Sales
For the week ending September 5, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 21 mmt.
This indicates a 40-percent decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year.
Net corn export sales reached .499 mmt for the beginning of the new marketing year; up significantly from the past week.
Net soybean export sales were 1.17 mmt, also up noticeably from the previous week.
Net weekly wheat export sales reached .611 mmt, up 96 percent from the from the previous week.
Rail
U.S. Class I railroads originated 17,431 grain carloads during the week ending September 7.
This is a 21-percent decrease from the previous week, 13 percent less than last year, and 13 percent lower than the 3-year average.
Average September shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $194 below tariff for the week ending September 12.
This is $148 more than last week and $119 lower than this week last year.
There were no non-shuttle bids/offers this week.
Barge
For the week ending September 14, barge grain movements totaled 735,777 tons.
This is a 106-percent increase from the previous week and 36 percent more than the same period last year.
For the week ending September 14, 473 grain barges moved down river. This is 252 more barges than the previous week.
There were 374 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 45 percent fewer than the previous week.
Ocean
For the week ending September 12, 30 ocean-going grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf.
This is 9 percent fewer than the same period last year.
Forty vessels are expected to be loaded within the next 10 days.
This is 29 percent fewer than the same period last year.
As of September 12, the rate for shipping a metric ton (mt) of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $52.00.
This is 1 percent more than the previous week.
The rate from PNW to Japan was $29.75 per mt, 1 percent more than the previous week.
Fuel
For the week ending September 16, the U.S. average diesel fuel price increased 1.6 cents from the previous week to $2.987 per gallon.
This price is 28.1 cents less than the same week last year