# Mississippi River shipping faces potential crisis for third straight year

> NOAA warned that low Mississippi River flows could return this summer and fall because of below-average snowpack and precipitation across the Northern Plains and Midwest. This would mark a third consecutive year of shipping bottlenecks.

- Date: 2024-03-29 · published 2024-03-29T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/16557-mississippi-river-shipping-faces-potential-crisis-for-third-straight-year
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md)

## Why it matters

A repeat of low water would raise barge costs and limit soybean and crude shipments on the river, pressuring farm-gate and basis prices for the affected export flows.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: bearish ▼
- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SOY | 2025-10-16 | [Drought lowering Mississippi River levels again, disrupting shipping](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16420-drought-lowering-mississippi-river-levels-again-disrupting-shipping.md) | +2.8% | +11.3% |
| SOY | 2025-10-21 | [Low Soil Moisture Makes It Difficult to Use Mississippi River for Shipping Grain and Supplies](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16419-low-soil-moisture-makes-it-difficult-to-use-mississippi-river-for-shipping.md) | +3.4% | +12.2% |
| SOY | 2023-11-12 | [Historically low water levels on the Mississippi River cause shipping woes \| PBS News Weekend](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16587-historically-low-water-levels-on-the-mississippi-river-cause-shipping-woes-pbs.md) | +0.5% | +0.2% |
| SOY | 2026-07-28 | [Panama Canal Growth Faces El Niño Shipping Risks - RFD-TV](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16803-panama-canal-growth-faces-el-nino-shipping-risks-rfd-tv.md) | -3.6% | +0.7% |
| SOY | 2022-01-19 | [Chicago soybean futures fell for a third straight session - Markets - Business Recorder](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10895-chicago-soybean-futures-fell-for-a-third-straight-session-markets-business.md) | +3.4% | +14.0% |

## Sources

- freightwaves.com: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/mississippi-river-shipping-faces-potential-crisis-for-third-straight-year

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.