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U.S. grain transportation shows mixed trends across modes

Rail shipments increase while barge movements decline; export sales vary by commodity.

July 7, 2025

Cargo container ship sailing on calm waters at golden hour

Pixabay

Golden sunflower in full bloom in a field with blurred background

Kernel halts all Ukrainian crush plants after Russian drone strikes

Straight rural road lined with mature corn fields under blue sky with wispy clouds

Mexico drives US corn export sales to marketing-year high

CoBank warns aging barge fleet could strain US grain exports

Inland hopper barge retirements are outpacing new builds, pointing to higher freight costs and weaker basis for river-dependent grain shippers.

Industrial conveyor bridge spanning across a waterway in a flat rural landscape with green fields and cloudy sky

Brand Insights

Thermal Performance and Gearbox Selection for Grain Handling Applications

SEW-EURODRIVE, Inc.

SEW-EURODRIVE’s Austin Burdette discusses heat challenges in grain handling gearboxes and how proper thermal management can reduce downtime and extend equipment life.

Thermal Performance and Gearbox Selection for Grain Handling Applications

Grain Trade & Export

USDA finds higher freight lifted grain costs to Mexico in third quarter

Low water on the Mississippi, ocean rates and diesel pushed water-route transportation costs up 18% to 24% from the second quarter.

Large industrial port facility with conveyor infrastructure extending into blue ocean under clear sky

USDA trims corn crop, raises soybean exports in November WASDE

A lower corn yield cuts feed use and exports, while bigger soybean exports pull stocks down to 300 million bushels and wheat stocks rise slightly.

Large cargo ship with yellow cranes docked at industrial port facility under blue sky

Grain Trade & Export

Lithuania to lab-test every Russian, Belarusian grain shipment

Starting Nov. 16, food grain moving through Lithuania won't clear customs until tests confirm its origin, a process officials say could take two months or longer at shippers' expense.

Grain Trade & Export

USW pitches US wheat blends to Brazilian millers at Abitrigo

With Brazil's wheat crop forecast to fall 22.5%, U.S. Wheat Associates urged millers to weigh the total value of a flour blend rather than wheat price alone.

Five professionals posing at U.S. Wheat Associates conference event

USDA FAS expects Canadian wheat crop to fall 9.6%

Canada's second-largest wheat crop on record comes with weaker grades, more feed wheat and exports unlikely to match last year's record.

Aerial view of grain field with tire tracks and crop rows extending to horizon

Association News

USGBC brings foreign wet millers to Illinois corn processing course

Starch processors from Latin America, the Middle East and Africa studied U.S. corn quality, grain sampling and wet milling technology during University of Illinois workshops.

Group of professionals standing before Illinois Crop Improvement Association sign at research facility

Grain Trade & Export

USTR extends suspension of China ship fees two more months

The two-month extension keeps port fees off Chinese-built and Chinese-operated vessels, a cost soybean and bulk grain exporters warned would land on farmers.

Large red and white oil tanker ship at sea viewed from elevated deck perspective

Grain Trade & Export

Canada, China extend canola meal and pea tariff relief through 2028

The two-year extension keeps China's suspension of anti-discrimination tariffs on Canadian canola meal and peas in place past its original end-of-2026 expiration.

Yellow rapeseed field with farm buildings nestled in rolling green hills under a cloudy sky

Donau Soja sees EU soybean crop falling 20% after drought

Smaller European and Ukrainian harvests are tightening non-GM soybean supply and pushing prices for processors and feed manufacturers to their highest levels in three years.

Young soybean plants growing in a red soil field under a clear blue sky with white clouds

Rail fuel surcharges on grain hit record 76 cents per mile

November's Class I average is 231% above April's level, and federal forecasters expect diesel to ease but stay above $4 a gallon through 2027.

Rural grain elevator facility with railroad tracks and storage silos under clear sky

US soybean shipments hit marketing-year high as China buys

Weekly soybean exports topped 2.5 million metric tons, while wheat shipments fell to their lowest point of the 2026-27 marketing year.

Industrial port facility with cargo cranes, storage silos, and moored vessel on waterfront under cloudy sky

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