# Illinois Waterway Closures: Look For The Workaround

> The Army Corps of Engineers' Rock Island District plans major lock and dam replacement and maintenance work on the Illinois Waterway, effectively shutting it down next summer from LaGrange to Brandon Road. Officials advise businesses to prepare a logistics plan ready by July 1, 2020, with recovery potentially taking two or more years. The waterway normally carries about 10 million tons of agricultural products.

- Date: 2019-10-08 · published 2019-10-08T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/56745-illinois-waterway-closures-look-for-the-workaround
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md), [Soybean Meal](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SBM.md)

## Why it matters

A prolonged shutdown would force soybeans and fertilizer onto trucks or rail, raising transport costs and widening Illinois basin basis relative to Gulf prices. This is a forward-looking structural cost that should support barge freight rates and local soybean meal and corn basis.

## Read by commodity

- SBM: neutral
- SOY: bearish ▼
- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SOY | 2020-01-10 | [New Studies Detail Impacts Of Possible Lock Closures - The Waterways Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/55272-new-studies-detail-impacts-of-possible-lock-closures-the-waterways-journal.md) | -1.0% | -5.5% |
| SOY | 2023-08-25 | [Low Water Continues For Middle Mississippi - The Waterways Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16608-low-water-continues-for-middle-mississippi-the-waterways-journal.md) | -0.4% | -5.1% |
| SOY | 2020-06-24 | [Illinois River closure to force supply shift for Gulf Coast grain, ethanol buyers](https://feedsoft.ai/events/52503-illinois-river-closure-to-force-supply-shift-for-gulf-coast-grain-ethanol-buyers.md) | +1.1% | +2.8% |
| SOY | 2023-12-01 | [Projections Call For Rapid Fall In River Levels At St. Louis - The Waterways Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/32914-projections-call-for-rapid-fall-in-river-levels-at-st-louis-the-waterways.md) | -2.3% | -3.7% |
| SOY | 2019-10-25 | [Harvest Season Could Be Subdued For Barges - The Waterways Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/56459-harvest-season-could-be-subdued-for-barges-the-waterways-journal.md) | -1.8% | -3.5% |
| SBM | 2019-12-29 | [Traffic Jam on the Illinois Waterway: Tugboats Are Busy Through the Holidays](https://feedsoft.ai/events/55474-traffic-jam-on-the-illinois-waterway-tugboats-are-busy-through-the-holidays.md) | +0.8% | +0.7% |
| SBM | 2025-01-08 | [Low river levels remain a concern for inland waterways - Brownfield Ag News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16477-low-river-levels-remain-a-concern-for-inland-waterways-brownfield-ag-news.md) | +0.9% | +4.7% |
| 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% |

## Sources

- marinelink.com: https://www.marinelink.com/news/illinois-waterway-closures-look-471476

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