Low water and ice are delaying barge traffic on the Mississippi at St. Louis and between St. Louis and Cairo, and Illinois River tows have been cut from 15 barges to 6 or 9. Downbound grain shipments at Locks 27 were 71% below the three-year average for the period.
Rock removal between St. Louis and Cairo has been halted by ice.
Reduced tow sizes and fewer grain barges raise barge freight rates and push more grain to rail, which widens the basis for interior elevators and supports barge freight prices.
Not enough comparable past events yet for a historical read.
Moves of each commodity's benchmark from the last close before the event. Historical reads pool past events of the same kind; they describe what happened, not what will. Not investment advice.