# How coronavirus affects US river-barge market - FreightWaves

> FreightWaves reports that US river tank-barge demand is strong as petrochemical customers stock up on supplies amid coronavirus disruption, with Kirby Corp. running at about 97% utilization. The company warns that a US recession could lead petrochemical plants to cut volumes, particularly in less efficient European plants first.

- Date: 2020-03-23 · published 2020-03-23T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/54298-how-coronavirus-affects-us-river-barge-market-freightwaves
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md)

## Why it matters

Strong barge utilization reflects logistics tightness in petrochemical freight, while the warning of future volume cuts points to weaker barge freight demand if recession takes hold; the direct effect on feed commodity prices is limited.

## Read by commodity

- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Sources

- freightwaves.com: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-coronavirus-affects-us-river-barge-market

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