This article has been reprinted from the USDA Oct. 31 Grain Transportation Report.
Export Sales
For the week ending October 17, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 24 mmt.
This represents a 26-percent decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year.
Net corn export sales reached .491 mmt, up 33 percent from the past week. Net soybean export sales were .475 mmt, down 70 percent from the previous week.
Net weekly wheat export sales reached .262 mmt, down 34 percent from the from the previous week.
Rail
U.S. Class I railroads originated 20,620 grain carloads during the week ending October 19.
This is a 1-percent decrease from the previous week, 8 percent less than last year, and 15 percent lower than the 3-year average.
Average November shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $47 below tariff for the week ending October 24.
This is $141 less than last week and $72 lower than this week last year.
There were no non-shuttle bids/offers this week.
Barge
For the week ending October 26, barge grain movements totaled 664,002 tons.
This is a 114-percent increase from the previous week and 66 percent more than the same period last year.
For the week ending October 26, 414 grain barges moved down river.
This is 218 more barges than the previous week.
There were 605 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 25 percent less than the previous week.
Ocean
For the week ending October 24, 36 oceangoing grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf—9 percent more than the same period last year.
Fifty-one vessels are expected to be loaded within the next 10 days (starting October 25).
This is 2 percent fewer than the same period last year. As of October 24, the rate for shipping a metric ton (mt) of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $50.50.
This is 2 percent less than the previous week.
The rate from PNW to Japan was $28.00 per mt, 2 percent less than the previous week.
Fuel
For the week ending October 28, the U.S. average diesel fuel price increased 1.4 cents from the previous week to $3.064 per gallon.
This price is 29.1 cents lower than the same week last year