This article has been reprinted from the Jan. 9 USDA Grain Transportation Report.
Export Sales
For the week ending December 26, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 23.3 mmt.
This represented a 29-percent decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year.
Net corn export sales reached 0.531 mmt, down 15 percent from the past week.
Net soybean export sales were 0.330 mmt, down 55 percent from the previous week.
Net weekly wheat export sales reached .313 mmt, down 56 percent from the previous week.
Rail
U.S. Class I railroads originated 15,524 grain carloads during the week ending December 28.
This was a 28-percent decrease from the previous week, 16 percent less than last year, and 13 percent lower than the 3-year average.
Average January shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $417 below tariff for the week ending January 2.
This was $54 less than last week and $117 lower than this week last year.
There were no non-shuttle bids/offers this week.
Barge
For the week ending January 4, barge grain movements totaled 528,627 tons.
This was an 11-percent decrease from the previous week and 43 percent more than the same period last year.
For the week ending January 4, 353 grain barges moved down river—25 fewer than the previous week.
There were 688 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 17 percent more than the previous week.
Ocean
For the week ending January 2, 29 oceangoing grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf—3.3 percent fewer than the same period last year.
Within the next 10 days (starting January 3), 44 vessels were expected to be loaded—15.4 percent fewer than the same period last year.
As of January 2, the rate for shipping a metric ton (mt) of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $45.75.
The rate from PNW to Japan was $25.00 per mt.
Fuel
For the week ending January 6, the U.S. average diesel fuel price increased 1 cent from the previous week to $3.079 per gallon, 6.6 cents above the same week last year.