Mississippi River logjam puts US grain, fertilizer and petroleum supply in a halt

A logjam of more than 100 ships, tugboats, and their convoys of barges in the shrinking Mississippi River is threatening to grind trade of grains, fertilizer, metals and petroleum to a halt.

The largest US barge operator wared customers it won't be able to make good on deliveries. Ingram Barge Company declared in a letter to customers due to the near-historic low water conditions on the Mississippi, the top route to get US grain and soybeans to the world market.

The water levels along the largest US waterway have dwindled by so much that vessels are running aground. The Coast Guard is responding to grounded vessels in at least two places, near Stack Island in Louisiana and upriver near Memphis, according to a statement.

Covered barges full of grain and soy float from U.S. farm country to terminals in the Gulf of Mexico, while crude oil, refined products and imported steel travel through sections of the waterway. Some 60% of the grain exported from the US is shipped on the Mississippi River through the Port of New Orleans and the Port of South Louisiana, according to the National Park Service.

The logjam is coming at the worst time as the corn harvests are one-fifth complete and supplies will start piling up. The River woes, coupled with a soaring dollar, are destroying demand for US supplies, even with Russia's invasion of Ukraine still hindering shipments in the Black Sea.

Susan David, grain analyst in St. Louis, said on the phone that we are losing demand because of reduced export capacity. There was a queue of 122 vessels at Stack Island and 15 vessels at Memphis, according to the Coast Guard. The number of vessels in tow is restricted due to increased groundings.

The snags in fertilizer shipments - which farmers rely on to plant crops for next year - are happening as nutrients to grow food have soared and as Hurricane Ian temporarily shut down production at a Mosaic Co. fertilizer plant in Florida.

The Mississippi River is vital to the fertilizer transportation network, according to Alexis Maxwell, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

A peaking La Nina is limiting storms coming in from the southwest that would replenish rivers, and any significant relief is unlikely through the first 10 days of November, according to World Weather Inc. president Drew Lerner.

Lerner said that I don't have a major storm coming up for the balance of the month. I am a little pessimistic and not happy with the situation, and I am a little pessimistic. Facebook is not the only game in town for Digital Political Ads.