Flooding on Upper Mississippi River to halt barge traffic for weeks -USDA

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CHICAGO — All barge traffic will be

halted across a wide swath of the Upper Mississippi River for

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weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday, as

record winter snowfall in the upper Midwest is now melting and

flooding into waterways.

The closures will force grain and fertilizer shippers to

find alternative, potentially more costly, transportation by

truck or rail, freight experts said.

Such floods have become part of a volatile cycle for the

U.S. waterway, a major transportation artery moving some 60% of

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American grain exports from the heartland to the global market

via the Gulf Coast.

Just last fall, drought plagued the lower and middle

Mississippi River valley, sending river levels plunging to

historic lows, halting barge shipments.

Now, all locks and dams above Lock 17 – near New Boston,

Illinois – will be closed for the next three weeks, and no

freight is being accepted along the Twin Cities and

mid-Mississippi portions of the river, USDA said in a weekly

transportation report.

Such closures are pushing down barge freight rates.

Though it is not a busy export period for the United States,

the closures will affect the delivery of any remaining soybeans

or grain for the export market, said Mike Steenhoek, executive

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director of the Soy Transportation Coalition.

It’s also creating a logistical headache for fertilizer

suppliers and buyers, who typically rely on northern-bound

barges to haul their goods to the Midwest ahead of spring

planting.

“It’s those shipments that are concerning, and will have to

be diverted off the river and moved north on rail or by truck,”

Steenhoek said.

As the river levels rise, the trouble is spreading: As far

south as Lock 22 – near Saverton, Missouri – high water could

force the locks and dams to be shuttered and stay closed until

mid-May, USDA said.

(Reporting By P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago; editing by Jonathan

Oatis)