U.S. grain transportation activity showed varied performance across rail, barge and ocean shipping during the final week of February, according to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service weekly Grain Transportation Report.
U.S. Class I railroads originated 28,838 grain carloads during the week ending Feb. 21, a 15 percent decrease from the previous week but 46 percent more than last year and 22 percent above the three-year average. Average March shuttle secondary railcar bids reached $350 above tariff for the week ending Feb. 26, up $125 from the previous week.
Barged grain movements totaled 579,122 tons for the week ending Feb. 28, representing a 16 percent increase from the previous week and 37 percent more than the same week last year. The New Orleans region unloaded 835 grain barges, 8 percent more than the prior week.
Ocean shipping activity strengthened, with 34 vessels loaded in the Gulf during the week ending Feb. 26, marking a 26 percent increase from the same period last year. Within the next 10 days starting Feb. 27, 48 vessels were expected to be loaded, 14 percent more than last year.
The U.S. average diesel fuel price increased 8.8 cents to $3.897 per gallon for the week ending March 2, sitting 26.2 cents above last year’s level.
Export sales showed corn leading the way with net sales of 2.02 million metric tons for marketing year 2025/26, up 195 percent from the previous week. Soybean sales reached 0.38 million metric tons, while wheat totaled 0.20 million metric tons.
