# Excessive Rain Disrupts US River Barge Shipping

> Excessive rain across the central US slowed corn and soybean harvests and closed at least three Upper Mississippi locks (16, 17 and 20) as of October 9. Barge industry sources expected a roughly two-week halt to traffic between St. Louis and Davenport. Cash corn bids for barges to the Gulf firmed on exporter demand and tight pipeline supplies.

- Date: 2018-10-10 · published 2018-10-10T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/62422-excessive-rain-disrupts-us-river-barge-shipping
- Commodities: [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md), [Barge Freight (St. Louis)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARGE.md)

## Why it matters

Lock closures stall Gulf-bound corn and soybean barges, tightening nearby supplies and supporting Gulf corn basis, while delayed harvest adds to near-term logistics strain.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: bullish ▲
- CORN: bullish ▲
- BARGE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2018-02-23 | [Flooding cripples grain barge shipments on U.S. Midwest rivers](https://feedsoft.ai/events/66386-flooding-cripples-grain-barge-shipments-on-u-s-midwest-rivers.md) | +1.9% | +2.9% |
| CORN | 2024-12-19 | [US grain exports are boosting demand for barge and rail transportation](https://feedsoft.ai/events/27130-us-grain-exports-are-boosting-demand-for-barge-and-rail-transportation.md) | +2.0% | +7.4% |
| CORN | 2021-11-19 | [Grain Shipping Costs Start to Ease](https://feedsoft.ai/events/43961-grain-shipping-costs-start-to-ease.md) | +1.5% | +4.4% |
| CORN | 2019-05-31 | [Flooding continues to disrupt barge traffic in U.S. - FreightWaves](https://feedsoft.ai/events/58981-flooding-continues-to-disrupt-barge-traffic-in-u-s-freightwaves.md) | -2.5% | +3.0% |
| CORN | 2017-05-08 | [US Rivers Under Siege](https://feedsoft.ai/events/70891-us-rivers-under-siege.md) | +1.5% | +2.5% |
| SOY | 2025-04-10 | [Soybean barge basis firm on river shipping delays](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16455-soybean-barge-basis-firm-on-river-shipping-delays.md) | +2.6% | +2.4% |
| SOY | 2020-10-02 | [Barge Rates Decline, Spurring Basis at River Terminals \| Feed & Grain](https://feedsoft.ai/events/50834-barge-rates-decline-spurring-basis-at-river-terminals-feed-and-grain.md) | +2.6% | +2.8% |
| SOY | 2020-08-06 | [Mississippi River dredging seeks to increase US soy exports](https://feedsoft.ai/events/51509-mississippi-river-dredging-seeks-to-increase-us-soy-exports.md) | +1.0% | +9.1% |

## Sources

- maritimeprofessional.com: https://www.maritimeprofessional.com/news/excessive-rain-disrupts-river-barge-322380

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