This article has been reprinted from the Jan. 2, 2020 USDA Grain Transportation Report.
Export Sales
For the week ending December 19, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 23.9 mmt.
This represented a 28-percent decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year.
Net corn export sales reached 0.625 mmt, down 63 percent from the past week.
Net soybean export sales were 0.736 mmt, down 49 percent from the previous week.
Net weekly wheat export sales reached .715 mmt, down 18 percent from the previous week.
Rail
U.S. Class I railroads originated 21,592 grain carloads during the week ending December 21.
This was a 4-percent increase from the previous week, 9 percent less than last year, and 6 percent lower than the 3-year average.
Average January shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $363 below tariff for the week ending December 26.
This was $6 more than last week and $169 lower than this week last year.
There were no non-shuttle bids/offers this week.
Barge
For the week ending December 28, barge grain movements totaled 594,522 tons.
This was a 24-percent increase from the previous week and 4 percent more than the same period last year.
For the week ending December 28, 378 grain barges moved down river—60 more barges than the previous week.
There were 586 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 17 percent fewer than the previous week.
Ocean
For the week ending December 26, 30 oceangoing grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf—3.4 percent more than the same period last year.
Within the next 10 days (starting January 5), 48 vessels were expected to be loaded—equivalent to the same period last year.
Fuel
For the week ending December 30, the U.S. average diesel fuel price increased 2.8 cents from the previous week to $3.069 per gallon, 2.1 cents above the same week last year.