MARKETS

Dry weather barging in on US coal shipments

A US drought hitting the Midwest is one of the areas worst in more than 15 years, with water leve...

Donna Schmidt

“Everyone is light-loading,” said American Waterways Operators vice president Lynn Muench.

With every inch equalling 17 tons of coal, and barges reducing loads by 2-3ft, Muench said the barge companies were absorbing the loss in profits. “But when it comes to the spot markets, the customers bear the brunt, and the contract losses eventually increase contract prices.”

Alter Barge Line president Larry Daily said river levels were the lowest he’d seen in some time. “1988 was the worst I’ve ever seen, but we’re not there yet. Another three or four weeks, and we’ll certainly be there.”

Alter’s 320-barge and six-towboat fleet has been so pressed by the low levels the company estimates it is losing $US200,000-300,000 per month.

Another barge company, Ingram Barge, said it had limited use of its larger barges because of the narrowed river widths. “Also, there are several spots on the Mississippi where it is one-way traffic or daylight-only traffic,” said P B “Kaj” Shah of Ingram. “Low water levels have caused us to reduce drafts.”

He added that the direst areas of the Midwest waterways was the lower areas of the Mississippi River and Ohio River. “If we don’t get additional rain soon, it is possible we will experience a complete shutdown of the lower Ohio and/or the lower Mississippi at some point during the next few weeks.”

While there is passage of commercial barges on these major water transport lines, the Army Corps of Engineers said any additional water level decrease could significantly impair traffic. According to an industry report, the Corps is to sustain channels for routing channels that are at least 300ft wide and 9ft deep.

An advisory issued by the US Coast Guard earlier this month advised heavier-loaded barges to reposition themselves as soon as possible, specifically in the upper Mississippi. Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers has been working to keep the river open to traffic by using a dredger to deepen the harbour of St Louis.

“Once you’ve lost a day on the river, you can’t recover it,” said Daily. “We’re getting rain, but not enough to cure the river. We need a couple weeks of steady rain every few days.”

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production