On Thursday, many of Louisiana Gulf Coast grain exporting capacity remained closed as flooding and power outages from Hurricane Ida continue to cripple exports from the busiest U.S. grain shipping port, a state official said.
Crop exporters are anxious for shipping to resume as autumn harvests and the peak grain export season loom at a time of strong demand from China. Crop export volumes are due to increase from now onwards to five-fold.
About 50% of the grain export capacity in the lower Mississippi River is not operational, said Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture.
The grain harvest is coming in from the Midwest, and a lot of that grain is going down the river to us. Limited barge movement on parts of the Mississippi River that supplies export terminals has resumed, allowing some facilities such as a Louis Dreyfus terminal near Baton Rouge to begin recovery, he said.
The area surrounding the southernmost grain terminal on the river - owned by CHS Inc - is still swamped with as much four feet of water, Strain said.
A 60 - mile section of the river remains impassible due to blockaded power lines and demolished or grounded barges, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
More than 50 vessels are behind the Mississippi River waiting for it to reopen so that they can load up with corn, soybeans and other commodities, according to shipping sources.
Export inspections for corn over the past week are expected to be the lowest in at least one year, according to analyst estimates gathered by Reuters ahead of a weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture report on Tuesday.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it expects to remove the shipping channel at early next week, at which point crews will be dispatched to remove any obstructions or sunken boats.
Farmers' profits will suffer if the region does not resume operations before harvests ramp up, said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition.
If the export facilities in the region are not back up to normal capacity by this time, we will essentially be attaching a garden hose to a fire hydrant, he said.