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Low river levels and lock repairs on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers delayed dozens of barge tows, pushing barge freight rates to a three-year high on September 29. Exporters scrambled for supplies to meet Gulf Coast shipping commitments as bulk cargo ships backed up waiting to load soybeans.
Barges are loading to 9 to 9.5 foot drafts, so each carries about 25 percent less grain.
Shallow drafts and lock delays raise the cost of moving grain to Gulf export terminals just as harvest deliveries peak. Higher freight widens the basis and cuts farm-gate prices for soybeans and corn.
gcaptain.comMike SchulerSep 30, 2017Not enough comparable past events yet for a historical read.
After 297 past bearish logistics events, Soybeans moved a median +0.3% over 5 sessions (54% higher; middle half -1.5% to +1.8%), and +0.7% over 20.
Moves of each commodity's benchmark from the last close before the event. Historical reads pool past events of the same kind; they describe what happened, not what will. Not investment advice.
