Transportation costs for shipping U.S. grain to Mexico fell in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter, improving the competitiveness of American corn, soybeans and wheat, according to the weekly Grain Transportation Report by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.
The quarterly study, which tracks costs of shipping via water routes to Veracruz and land routes to various U.S.-Mexico border locations, found that total transportation costs decreased across all grain types and shipping methods.
For water routes, transportation costs for corn and soybeans from Illinois to Veracruz dropped 11.7 percent from the previous quarter to $55.71 per metric ton. Wheat transportation costs from Kansas to Veracruz decreased 4.1 percent to $62.54 per metric ton.
"Falling water-route shipping costs for corn, soybeans, and wheat reflected lower truck, barge, rail, and ocean freight rates," the report stated.
Truck rates fell 16.7 percent on water routes and 10.4 percent on land routes due to "reduced demand for trucking services and lower diesel fuel prices during the quarter." Barge rates showed a typical seasonal decline after the Upper Mississippi River reopened in late March from its annual winter closure.
Land-route shipping costs to the U.S.-Mexico border decreased less dramatically, with corn transportation costs falling 0.8 percent to $66.33 per metric ton, soybeans down 1.0 percent to $59.90, and wheat down 3.3 percent to $50.56.
Despite lower transportation costs, landed costs (transportation plus farm value) showed mixed results. Landed costs decreased for water-route corn and both water and land-route wheat, but increased for soybeans and land-route corn due to rising farm values.
U.S. grain exports to Mexico in the second quarter totaled 6.85 million metric tons of corn (up 21 percent from the previous quarter), 1.01 million metric tons of soybeans (down 12 percent), and 1.02 million metric tons of wheat (unchanged).
