Market Matters Blog

UMR Shipping Season Comes to Close

Mary Kennedy
By  Mary Kennedy , DTN Basis Analyst
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Barges struggle to move through the ice-filled Mississippi River near Dubuque, Iowa, on Nov. 20, 2014 (Photo by Brad Hanson, KWWL News, Dubuque Bureau)

OMAHA (DTN) -- "The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise," said Mark Twain. Mother Nature, too, has her own way and decided it was time to close the Upper Mississippi River for this shipping season until next spring.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, said on Nov. 20 that they locked the last tow of the season for the St. Paul, Minn., area because ice conditions on the Mississippi River were making it hard for vessels to navigate.

According to the USACE, "The Motor Vessel Mary K Cavarra was locked through Lock and Dam 2, near Hastings, Minn., with four barges. Traditionally, the last tow heading south of Lock and Dam 2 has marked the unofficial end of the navigation season for the Twin Cities portion of the St. Paul District." This closing came earlier than normal and many elevators in that area scrambled to get their last barge loaded and sent downriver before it closed. The Gavilon elevator at Red Rock had posted this on their website last week: Special Message from Gavilon Grain - Red Rock: river closing early...bring all bean deliveries by this Sunday, Nov. 16.

The Mid-Mississippi corridor is expected to close at the end of November, unless the icing becomes a bigger issue downriver. KWWL, Dubuque, Iowa, reported, "At least four or five boats north of the Guttenberg Lock and Dam early Nov. 20 struggled to break through the ice." Lockmaster Marvin Althoff told KWWL, "It's a long and painfully slow process. The ice isn't new, but the timing is causing headaches. This is a little more ice than we normally have at this time of year on the river," he said. "As a result, we have a lot more tows up above that are wanting to get out yet and there are 22 boats navigating some pretty thick ice -- up to 8 inches thick in some places in the Mississippi River."

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If you remember this past spring, the navigation season didn't officially start until April 16 when the Angela K reached St. Paul, Minn. The USACE said, "The spring start was one for the record books with ice thicknesses in Lake Pepin, near Red Wing, Minn., reaching 32 inches in some locations. This season was the second latest start to navigation in the district's history, too."

"Despite the late start and needing to close the 9-foot channel for 26 days in at least one location to perform emergency dredging after the June floods, the cargo tonnage is up more than 10% at the mainline locks from Hastings to Lock and Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa," said Bryan Peterson, St. Paul District Mississippi River program manager. "Industries saved more than $300 million by using the navigation channel instead of overland shipping methods."

Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Corn and soybean growers within 70 miles of a river terminal usually find it economical to send their grain to river terminals, unless they sell it closer to home for animal feed, ethanol plants or other uses. But the recent delays, shortages and high costs to move export grain by rail are driving more business to barges. Normally, some grain handlers will say that the river's too far away and it just doesn't pencil out," Steenhoek said. "But with rail service being what it is, they're willing to drive further to access the river."

But now, that will all come to an end until next spring thanks to Mother Nature who decided to bring an early start to winter in the Midwest.

Mary Kennedy can be reached at mary.kennedy@dtn.com

Follow Mary Kennedy on Twitter @MaryCKenn

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