Despite US Coast Guard reopening the lower Mississippi River to vessel traffic over the weekend, grain shipments from US Gulf Coast facilities in southern Louisiana remained strictly constrained on Tuesday raced through just before the peak grain export season, crippling grain and oilseed shipments from the Gulf Coast, which accounts for approximately 60% of all U.S. exports. The loading of export boats has resumed at a major facility controlled by Louis Dreyfus Co in Baton Rouge. However, more than a week after Hurricane Ida raced through the busiest U.S. export outlet for grains, continuing power failures forced the closure of most of the area’s other terminals.
Last week, export inspections of U.S. soybeans, a barometer for eventual exports, were at their lowest level in seven years, according to The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics. According to the statistics, no soybeans were examined in the Gulf. In the week ending September 2, the USDA reported that 275,799 tonnes of maize were inspected for export, with just 84,733 tonnes examined at the Louisiana Gulf, the weakest week in two years.
On Tuesday, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co, which owns four export elevators in Louisiana, and Bunge Ltd, which runs an export terminal and a soy processing factory in the state, reported their operations were still without power. Cargill Inc. and CHS Inc. terminals were both damaged and are waiting for electricity to be restored. Exporters have called Hansen-Mueller Co, a commodity trader and logistics firm, to move wheat, corn, and soybean meal out of its Houston plant because to delays in New Orleans. “We anticipate that until capacity in (New Orleans) starts to come back online that Houston will continue to see grain shipments it would normally not said Paul Johnson, chief operating officer at Hansen-Mueller. Ship and barge traffic have increased since the Mississippi River reopened, however progress is slow due to the presence of numerous obstacles, including sunken ships, in the river.
According to grain shipping sources and Eikon vessel tracking data, the bulk freighter Limnionas, the first grain export vessel to set sail since the hurricane, reached the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday after loading with roughly 75,000 tonnes of soybeans on Sunday at Louis Dreyfus’ Port Allen terminal. Crews are still trying to clean the river and determine where the storm-damaged boats are and who owns them, according to Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
He said, “About 50% of the grain elevators’ barges have been identified so far.’
Some grain elevators are storing these barges and parking them in the water until the channel is fully passable, according to Strain. According to him, several of these barges have started to move upriver. “We’ve got to get those empty barges up the river, so they can be filled,” he added. Although the storm has caused some inconveniences, the USDA does not anticipate the damage to “significantly limit our capacity to export” grains, according to US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
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