For the week ending Sept. 14, barge grain movements totaled 735,777 tons, a 106% increase from the previous week and 36% more than the same period last year. For the week ending Sept. 14, 473 grain barges moved down river. This is 252 more barges than the previous week. There were 374 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, 45% fewer than the previous week.

For the week ending Sept. 12, total inspections of grain (corn, wheat, and soybeans) for export from all major U.S. export regions reached 1.60 million metric tons (mmt). Inspections are down 23% from the previous week, down 31% from last year, and 38% below the three-year average.

Total inspections were the lowest since the middle of July, with corn inspections dropping 31% from the previous week and soybeans decreasing 32% for the same period. Wheat inspections, however, were up 11% from the previous week. Mississippi Gulf grain inspections decreased 45% from the past week, while Pacific Northwest inspections increased 40%.

For the week ending Sept. 5, unshipped balances of wheat, corn, and soybeans totaled 21 mmt. This indicates a 40% decrease in outstanding sales, compared to the same time last year. Net corn export sales reached .499 mmt for the beginning of the new marketing year; up significantly from the past week. Net soybean export sales were 1.17 mmt, also up noticeably from the previous week. Net weekly wheat export sales reached .611 mmt, up 96% from the from the previous week.

For the week ending Sept. 12, 30 ocean-going grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf, 9% fewer than the same period last year.

Ken Hocke has been the senior editor of WorkBoat since 1999. He was the associate editor of WorkBoat from 1997 to 1999. Prior to that, he was the editor of the Daily Shipping Guide, a transportation daily in New Orleans. He has written for other publications including The Times-Picayune. He graduated from Louisiana State University with an arts and sciences degree, with a concentration in English, in 1978.