Grain shippers race against winter on drought woes

Logistics pain: Soybeans are seen being irrigated in Nebraska. The low water levels on the Mississippi River, the top route for US grain and soy exporters, are raising costs and impeding shipments. — Reuters

NEW YORK: Shippers struggling to move grains and fertiliser along a dried-up Mississippi River are also racing to beat the start of winter in the northern Midwest, when the river freezes and commerce shuts down.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM), one of the world’s biggest crop traders, said in a note to its clients this week that shipments planned for the upper Mississippi River should be completed as soon as possible to arrive in time before the river’s northern reaches begin to shut down next month.