Moving grain: Barge spot rates drop sharply in the US

Published 2022년 10월 22일

Tridge summary

Barge spot rates in St. Louis have significantly dropped to $72.58 per ton from a high of $105.85 per ton despite river challenges such as low water levels. This decrease is due to delayed deliveries by grain shippers. Despite the drop, rates are still 130% higher than last year and 260% higher than the 3-year average. The Federal Maritime Commission has proposed a rule to clarify demurrage and detention billing practices. In other news, Iowa has temporarily increased weight limits for vehicles transporting harvest-related goods until October 30, 2022. Finally, grain movements by ocean, rail, and barge have varied, showing increases in some areas and decreases in others compared to the previous week and the same period last year.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Barge Spot Rates Drop Sharply, Despite Ongoing River Challenges For the week of October 18, the St. Louis barge spot rate (GTR table 9) fell precipitously to $72.58 per ton from its peak of $105.85 per ton for the week of October 11. Amid uncertainty about when barge traffic will normalize, some grain shippers have delayed deliveries until later in the year, which has softened demand for barges. Nonetheless, the spot rate remains up 130 percent from last year and up 260 percent from the 3-year average. Although spot rates have fallen, water levels on the Lower Mississippi River (LMR) continue to be an issue, with the river gauge at Memphis dropping to a record low of −10.76 feet on October 18. On the Ohio River (which feeds a significant portion of the LMR’s water), low water levels have delayed barge traffic because of groundings and closures for dredging work. Periodic closures for dredging, as well as tow and draft restrictions, are expected to persist at least through October ...

Source: Agfax