Export Sales

For the week ending April 24, unshipped balances of corn, soybeans, and wheat for marketing year (MY) 2024/25 totaled 23.89 million metric tons (mmt), down 5 percent from last week and up 25 percent from the same time last year.

Net corn export sales for MY 2024/25 were 1.01 mmt, down 12 percent from last week. Net soybean export sales were 0.43 mmt, up 55 percent from last week. Net wheat export sales for MY 2024/25 were 0.072 mmt, up 150 percent from last week.

Rail

U.S. Class I railroads originated 29,283 grain carloads during the week ending April 26. This was a 20-percent increase from the previous week, 26 percent more than last year, and 18 percent more than the 3-year average.

Average May shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers (per car) were $155 below tariff for the week ending May 1. This was $52 less than last week and $121 lower than this week last year. Average non-shuttle secondary railcar bids/offers per car were $81 above tariff. This was $19 more than last week and $44 lower than thisweek last year.

Barge

For the week ending May 3, barged grain movements totaled 779,800 tons. This was 16 percent more than the previous week and 85 percent more than the same period last year.

For the week ending May 3,503 grain bargesmoved down river—69 more than last week. There were 453 grain barges unloaded in the New Orleans region, 9 percent fewer than last week.

Ocean

For the week ending May 1, 29 oceangoing grain vessels were loaded in the Gulf—12percent more than the same period last year. Within the next 10 days (starting May 2), 26 vessels were expected to be loaded—16 percent fewer than the same period last year.

As of May 1, the rate for shipping a metric ton (mt) of grain from the U.S. Gulf to Japan was $46.25, up 1 percent from the previous week. The rate from the Pacific Northwest to Japan was $27.25 per mt, up 1 percent from the previous week.

Fuel

For the week ending May 5, the U.S. average diesel price decreased 1.7 cents from the previous week, to $3.497 per gallon—39.7 cents below the same week last year.

Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service,May 8, 2025, https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/GTR05082025.pdf