You know it sometimes feels like a broken record. It’s dry, exports are low, and the Mississippi River is running low on water levels again. This means as we enter what is traditionally the time of the year that we see our grain exports pick up, we are becoming a premium price again due to costs on the biggest shipping lane in the United States. Low levels mean more and lighter barges which translates into higher costs. This means our already low export figures for the year are in jeopardy again.
Mike Steenhoek is with the Soy Transportation Coalition and he talks about these historically low levels that the river has been seeing since 2022, with very little relief.
It causes such a hassle for barges and the logistics at the shipping ports in Louisiana.
The persistent drought and its growing tentacles are affecting the whole system that feeds the river.
We do have alternatives, but as we have said they are more expensive and they take time. It also means we are going to be clogging ports somewhere else with excess shipments.
Rain is forecasted for the Midwest over the weekend. However, it will take more than a weekend to make up the differences.
