# Report: Barge rates skyrocket amid Ohio, Mississippi river closures - FreightWaves

> Spot barge rates surged in October 2017 as low water on parts of the Ohio, Illinois and Mississippi rivers closed or restricted navigation. USDA data showed export grain spot rates rising 27 to 50 percent in a single week, with no rain forecast. Farmers were advised to hold grain until December.

- Date: 2017-10-06 · published 2017-10-06T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/6120-report-barge-rates-skyrocket-amid-ohio-mississippi-river-closures-freightwaves
- Commodities: [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md), [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md)

## Why it matters

Barge scarcity raises the cost of moving grain to Gulf export terminals and widens the basis at interior locations. Holding back supply from the river market weighs on near-term cash corn and soybean prices while freight costs climb.

## Read by commodity

- CORN: bearish ▼
- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2023-10-20 | [Mississippi barge rates dropping despite little improvement in river levels - FreightWaves](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16593-mississippi-barge-rates-dropping-despite-little-improvement-in-river-levels.md) | -0.6% | -3.7% |
| CORN | 2022-10-25 | [Relief still far off for low Mississippi River, hindering barge movement - FreightWaves](https://feedsoft.ai/events/39336-relief-still-far-off-for-low-mississippi-river-hindering-barge-movement.md) | -1.4% | -2.7% |
| CORN | 2019-07-01 | [Barge movement resumes on Mississippi, but remains sluggish - FreightWaves](https://feedsoft.ai/events/57966-barge-movement-resumes-on-mississippi-but-remains-sluggish-freightwaves.md) | +1.3% | +0.2% |
| CORN | 2017-04-07 | [Barge accidents shut parts of Mississippi, Ohio rivers](https://feedsoft.ai/events/71396-barge-accidents-shut-parts-of-mississippi-ohio-rivers.md) | +1.6% | +1.0% |
| CORN | 2022-10-10 | [Mississippi River reopens to barge traffic after low water closures - U.S. Coast Guard \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16671-mississippi-river-reopens-to-barge-traffic-after-low-water-closures-u-s-coast.md) | +0.6% | -0.3% |

## Sources

- freightwaves.com: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/report-barge-rates-skyrocket-amid-ohio-mississippi-river-closures

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