By DOUG SCHMITZ

Iowa Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Class I railroads originated 31,705 grain carloads during the week ending May 30, an 11 percent increase from the previous week, 32 percent more than last year, and 37 percent more than the three-year average, according to the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service’s June 11 Grain Transportation Report.

“The rail numbers suggest end users and exporters are still actively pulling grain out of the countryside,” Danny Munch, American Farm Bureau Federation economist, told Farm World concerning the 32 percent increase.

“Corn exports have been one of the brighter spots in agriculture this year, supported by competitive U.S. supplies, and strong demand from key buyers like Mexico,” he added. “When export demand is strong, rail traffic tends to follow.”

He said one of the most overlooked factors in grain transportation is that rail traffic is often a lagging indicator of export sales: “The grain moving by rail today was frequently sold weeks or months earlier. This year, corn exports have been one of agriculture’s bright spots, driven by competitive U.S. supplies and strong international demand.”

Munch said buyers have also faced periodic uncertainty surrounding crop prospects in other exporting regions, making U.S. grain an attractive option. “As those export sales are executed, they show up in transportation data through higher rail movements. Meanwhile, soybean growers remain focused on competition from South America, and whether global buyers continue to view U.S. soybeans as competitively priced.”

Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition in Ankeny, Iowa, told Farm World, “Despite the negative news that tends to dominate the public attention regarding the reduction in exports to China, soybean and grain exports continue to show some resilience to other international destinations.

“This is reflected in some of these strong numbers, including rail deliveries,” he said. “We continue to have significant exports to Mexico, a large number of Asian countries, the Middle East, North Africa, and numerous other regions of the world.”

The report also said average June shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $167 above tariff for the week ending June 4, $96 less than last week and $221 more than this week last year. Average non-shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers per car were $50 above tariff, $6 more than last week and $75 more than this week last year.

For the week ending June 6, barged grain movements totaled 667,860 tons, which was 10 percent more than the previous week and 8 percent less than the same week last year, the report said: “For the same week, 446 barges moved down river, 42 more than the previous week. There were 624 grain barges unloaded in the New Orleans region, 3 percent more than the previous week.”

For the week ending June 4, the report said 36 oceangoing grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf, 13 percent more than in the same period last year. Within the next 10 days (starting June 5), 29 vessels were expected to be loaded, 34 percent fewer than the same period last year.

As of June 4, the report added, the rate for shipping a metric ton of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $71.75, down 1 percent from the previous week. The rate from the Pacific Northwest to Japan was $37.25 per metric ton, unchanged from the previous week.