Grain Report Clips

Grain report clips During the week ending November 17, 38 ocean-going grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf, down 33 percent from this week last year. Forty-eight vessels are expected to be loaded within the next 10 days, 9 percent less than the same period last year. During the week ending November 18, the ocean freight rate for shipping bulk grain from the Gulf to Japan was $57.50 per metric ton (mt), 2 percent more than the previous week. The cost of shipping from the Pacific Northwest to Japan was $32 per mt—3 percent more than the previous week. During March rail deliveries peaked for the year at 1,706 cars per week when flood conditions disrupted river operations and barge rates were at their highest. For this month, rail deliveries to Mississippi River ports are averaging 380 cars per week compared to last November’s average of 1,775 cars per week. For the remainder of the marketing year, a robust barge market is not likely; USDA projects U.S. corn exports at 1.6 billion bushels, a 9 year low.

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) has delayed opening its new grain transloading terminal at Yermo, CA, until late 2011 or early 2012. In their announcement, UP said the delay is because of a declining grain export market—grain traffic for all U.S. major railroads was down 14 percent in October compared to October 2010.