For the week ending Aug. 22, total inspections of grain (corn, wheat, and soybeans) for export from all major U.S. export regions reached 2.16 million metric tons (mmt), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This amount is 7% less than the previous week, down 22% from last year, and 15% below the three-year average, the USDA said in its weekly Grain Transportation Report released today. The drop in total inspections was caused mainly by lower wheat and soybean inspections. Corn inspections, however, rebounded from the previous week, increasing 25%.
Week-to-week inspections of corn for export increased to Latin America and Asia, with Latin America accounting for 68% of all corn inspected. Pacific Northwest (PNW) grain inspections increased 11% from the previous week, but Mississippi Gulf grain inspections decreased 17%.
For the week ending Aug. 24, barge grain movements totaled 890,199 tons, the GTR said. This is a 63% increase from the previous week and a 1% increase over the same period last year. For the week ending Aug. 24, 564 grain barges moved down river. This is 216 more barges than the previous week. There were 599 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 12% less than the previous week.
