Isaac Halts Grain Exports From Gulf Coast

By CnAgri2012-08-31 06:56:08 Print

Grain export facilities on the Louisiana Gulf were shuttered on Wednesday as Hurricane Isaac came ashore near the mouth of the Mississippi River, a major shipping outlet through which almost two-thirds of U.S. grain shipments flow every year.

But according to Reuters, the facilities, which unload grain barges and load ocean-going vessels, could be back up and running by the end of the week.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the river on Tuesday to all traffic from the Gulf of Mexico to Baton Rouge as the storm neared, while shippers secured boats and equipment and locked up grain storage bins in preparation for high winds and rain.

"If you can get vessels moving again through the channel and you don't have a huge backlog of traffic that needs to patiently move through, I would imagine that things will be back up and running very quickly," said a grain export trader.

Unless an export facility sustains considerable damage that keeps it offline for an extended period, little, if any, business was expected to be shifted to other shipping points, such as the Pacific Northwest, the country's No. 2 port range.

About 55 to 65 percent of U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat exit the country via the Gulf Coast. Pacific Northwest facilities handle about 25 percent of the country's exports, while smaller volumes are shipped from the East Coast or from the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway.