# Traffic Jam on the Illinois Waterway: Tugboats Are Busy Through the Holidays

> Barge operators on the Illinois Waterway are working through a heavy holiday backlog after a year of record floods and trade disputes. High water in spring shut barge traffic at St. Louis for periods and stranded thousands of barges, and the Army Corps has spent hundreds of millions on dredging and lock repairs.

- Date: 2019-12-29 · published 2019-12-29T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/55474-traffic-jam-on-the-illinois-waterway-tugboats-are-busy-through-the-holidays
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md), [Soybean Meal](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SBM.md)

## Why it matters

Backlogged and delayed barge movements keep freight costs elevated for Midwest grain and soybean meal shipments to the Gulf. Ongoing congestion supports barge rates into the new year.

## Read by commodity

- SBM: neutral
- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SBM | 2019-10-08 | [Illinois Waterway Closures: Look For The Workaround](https://feedsoft.ai/events/56745-illinois-waterway-closures-look-for-the-workaround.md) | +2.9% | +1.7% |
| SBM | 2023-07-21 | [Drought threatens return of shipping disruption on US waterways - The Loadstar](https://feedsoft.ai/events/35231-drought-threatens-return-of-shipping-disruption-on-us-waterways-the-loadstar.md) | +4.5% | -7.2% |
| SBM | 2025-07-14 | [Panama Canal has plenty of water but transits stil... \| myKN](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16928-panama-canal-has-plenty-of-water-but-transits-stil-mykn.md) | +1.8% | +2.7% |
| SBM | 2019-07-16 | [The Port of New Orleans reopens as embargoes slow rail traffic \| 2019-07-16  \| Food Business News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/58110-the-port-of-new-orleans-reopens-as-embargoes-slow-rail-traffic-2019-07-16-food.md) | -1.0% | -6.3% |
| SBM | 2021-06-17 | [Civil protests once again block KCS de Mexico main line to busy port - Trains](https://feedsoft.ai/events/46602-civil-protests-once-again-block-kcs-de-mexico-main-line-to-busy-port-trains.md) | -5.2% | -2.7% |

## Sources

- waterwayscouncil.org: https://waterwayscouncil.org/media/in-the-news/article/2019/12/wsj

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