# COVID-19 wreaks havoc on transportation | 2020-05-22  | Food Business News

> Food Business News reports that COVID-19 has disrupted US food transportation, with ocean freight and rail shipments tumbling while truck tonnage surged then plunged. Freight rates for grain and other products are down from a year ago, and fuel prices have fallen sharply. Ethanol plant shutdowns have cut corn deliveries to those facilities.

- Date: 2020-05-22 · published 2020-05-22T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/53019-covid-19-wreaks-havoc-on-transportation-2020-05-22-food-business-news
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md), [Ocean Grain Freight](https://feedsoft.ai/c/OCEANFRT.md), [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Crude Oil (WTI)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WTI.md)

## Why it matters

Lower freight rates and reduced ethanol-related corn demand weigh on feed grain basis and transport costs, while cheaper fuel reduces hauling expenses for feed buyers.

## Read by commodity

- WTI: bearish ▼
- CORN: bearish ▼
- BARGE: bearish ▼
- OCEANFRT: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2023-10-19 | [Grain Transportation Report, October 19, 2023](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16592-grain-transportation-report-october-19-2023.md) | +1.0% | -2.6% |
| CORN | 2023-01-19 | [Grain Transportation Report, January 19, 2023](https://feedsoft.ai/events/37805-grain-transportation-report-january-19-2023.md) | -1.6% | -1.2% |
| CORN | 2022-04-14 | [Grain Transportation Report, April 14, 2022](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16716-grain-transportation-report-april-14-2022.md) | +3.1% | +1.9% |
| CORN | 2025-02-20 | [Grain Transportation Report, February 20, 2025](https://feedsoft.ai/events/26235-grain-transportation-report-february-20-2025.md) | -5.1% | -2.4% |
| CORN | 2024-10-17 | [Grain Transportation Report, October 17, 2024](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16503-grain-transportation-report-october-17-2024.md) | +2.1% | +2.9% |
| WTI | 2017-12-01 | [Transportation constraints and export costs widen the Brent-WTI crude oil price spread](https://feedsoft.ai/events/68167-transportation-constraints-and-export-costs-widen-the-brent-wti-crude-oil-price.md) | -1.5% | +5.3% |
| WTI | 2020-03-20 | [Weekly Market Wrap-Up - March 20, 2020 - The Andersons Trade Group](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6109-weekly-market-wrap-up-march-20-2020-the-andersons-trade-group.md) | -26.8% | -27.2% |
| WTI | 2017-08-30 | [Oil prices continue downward trend triggered by Harvey - UPI.com](https://feedsoft.ai/events/69605-oil-prices-continue-downward-trend-triggered-by-harvey-upi-com.md) | +5.8% | +12.2% |

## Sources

- foodbusinessnews.net: https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/16098-covid-19-wreaks-havoc-on-transportation

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