USDA: OCEAN FREIGHT RATES FOR U.S. CORN, SOYBEAN CONTINUE TO SLIDE

USDA: OCEAN FREIGHT RATES FOR U.S. CORN, SOYBEAN CONTINUE TO SLIDE    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual 2000-2001 analysis of the country’s grain transportation outlook found that ocean freight rates in    the industry’s biggest trade lanes have continued to slide.
   The USDA, which uses the Baltic Exchange for freight rate information, reported that ocean rates for corn and soybean shipments decreased at the beginning of the third quarter. On Aug. 9, the daily average rate for the U.S. Gulf to Japan route was $17.78 per metric ton and the average rate for U.S. Pacific Northwest to Japan route was $10.39 per metric ton.
   “Both of these rates were at their lowest since July 1999 (for the Gulf) and September 1999 (for the Pacific Northwest), which was before the recent increase in fuel prices,” the USDA said.
   The ocean rates on the two key grain trade routes peaked at different times. For the U.S. Gulf to Japan route, the average ocean freight rates reached a high of $24.04 per metric ton in mid-May, while the rate from the Pacific Northwest peaked at $17.68 per metric ton in mid-March. “Since then, the average ocean freight rates for both routes have been failing,” the USDA said.