Grain Transportation Report, July 27, 2023

On July 18, a new grain export facility opened at the Port of Milwaukee.The new intermodal transload facility, operated by The DeLong Co., is expected mainly to move distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS), but it will also ship soybeans, corn, and other grains.The facility will move DDGS and grain received by truck or rail (on either the Union Pacific or Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railroads) to handysize bulk vessels for international export through the Great Lakes-St.Lawrence Seaway system.The new facility has a storage capacity of 45,000 metric tons (1,700,000 bushels) and a load rate of 6,000 metric tons per day, with a rail track capacity of 100 hopper cars.Up to now, a significant portion of DDGS produced by Wisconsin's nine ethanol plants have been trucked to Chicago for container shipment.By providing a new DDGS export opportunity in Wisconsin, the Port of Milwaukee estimates that the new facility will eliminate 1,600 truck trips annually.The new facility also has the potential to serve ethanol plants in Iowa and Minnesota.Diesel Price Surges by 9.9 Cents After no change in the diesel price last week, for the week ending July 24, the U.S. average diesel fuel price rose 9.9 cents per gallon to $3.905 per gallon.This is the largest week-to-week increase since October 2022.The rise in diesel price was responding to the crude oil price's recent rise to $83.64 per gallon (the highest since April 19), as oil exports from Russia have declined over the past month and, from Saudi Arabia, for the last few months (according to the data, which is available only through May).The average diesel price is still 136.3 cents below the same week last year.The largest increases were in the Gulf Coast (13.4 cents) and the Lower Atlantic region (11.4 cents). Panama Canal Limits Vessel Transits Amid Persistent Low WaterEffective July 30, the Panama Canal will allow transits of only 32 vessels per day-10 vessels through the Neopanamax locks and 22 vessels through the Panamax locks (according to the Panama Canal Authority).Although below the long-term daily average of 35-36 transits, the reduced number will resemble the Canal's average of the last 2 months.Last month, the Canal had announced new draft restrictions affecting both the Neopanamax and Panamax locks (Grain Transportation Report, June 22, 2023, first highlight).However, after the region received much-needed rain, the new draft restrictions were postponed indefinitely.Because of the rain, the current restriction of 44 feet for the Neopanamax locks stayed in place, and the Panamax locks continued their normal draft level of 39.5 feet.There is no word yet from the Panama Canal Authority on what the next change to draft restrictions will be or when the Neopanamax locks' normal draft level of 50 feet may be resumed.Water levels in Gatn Lake-the water source for the Canal-are currently at 79.3 feet, which is 7 percent below the prior 5-year average and near record lows. Grain Inspections Increase From Previous WeekFor the week ending July 20, total inspections of grain (corn, wheat, and soybeans) for export from all major U.S. export regions were 0.980 million metric tons (mmt)-up 14 percent from the previous week, down 41 percent from last year, and down 48 percent from the 3-year average.From the previous week, inspections for soybeans rose 77 percent and, for wheat, rose 31 percent.Despite increasing 540 percent in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and 29 percent in the Atlantic, inspections were down in the Mississippi Gulf, Great Lakes, and Interior port regions.Week-to-week inspections of grain for the Texas Gulf, however, remained unchanged.Inspections of grain during the last 4 weeks were significantly down from last year and the 3-year average. Snapshots by Sector Export SalesFor the week ending July 13, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans for marketing year (MY) 2022/23 totaled 10.20 million metric tons (mmt), down 3 percent from last week and down 44 percent from the same time last year.Net corn export sales for MY 2022/23 were 0.237, down 49 percent from last week.Net soybean export sales were 0.127 mmt, up 58 percent from last week.Net weekly wheat export sales for MY 2023/24, were 0.171 mmt, down 57 percent from last week.Rail U.S. Class I railroads originated 16,032 grain carloads during the week ending July 15.This was a 27-percent increase from the previous week, 11 percent fewer than last year, and 19 percent fewer than the 3-year average.Average August shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $78 below tariff for the week ending July 20.This was $166 more than last week and $189 lower than this week last year.Average non-shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers per car were $63 above tariff.This was $38 more than last week and $113 lower than this week last year. BargeFor the week ending July 22, barged grain movements totaled 402,972 tons.This was 3 percent less than the previous week and 29 percent less than the same period last year.For the week ending July 22, 268 grain barges moved down river-1 more than last week.There were 470 grain barges unloaded in the New Orleans region, 37 percent more than last week. OceanFor the week ending July 20, 22 oceangoing grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf-15 percent fewer than the same period last year.Within the next 10 days (starting July 21), 30 vessels were expected to be loaded-44 percent fewer than the same period last year.

Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.