US Gulf:
US Gulf sulfuric acid prices were steady at $130/mt CFR, unchanged from last week.
Brazil:
Sulfuric acid imports were reported at $150/mt CFR, a $1/mt increase on last week’s $149/mt CFR, with Citra and Tronox reportedly closing the latest business to the Port of Aratu for August shipment.
Eastern Cornbelt:
The ammonium thiosulfate market was steady at $285-$300/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low at Cincinnati and the high in Indiana.
Western Cornbelt:
Ammonium thiosulfate was unchanged at $280-$305/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location.
Southern Plains:
Ammonium thiosulfate prices remained at $235-$240/st FOB for the latest offers in the Southern Plains.
South Central:
Ammonium thiosulfate remained at $295-$300/st FOB Memphis in late June.
Germany:
CAN prices in Germany were flat at €265-€280/mt CIF, with demand seasonally slowing down and not expected to pick up significantly during July.
Cornbelt:
NPSZ pricing in the Cornbelt edged up to $700-$750/st FOB, depending on location.
Southeast:
The latest SOP offers in the Southeast remained at the $600/st level FOB Wilmington and Tampa.
Southern Plains:
Intrepid’s Trio postings at Carlsbad were unchanged at $315/st for standard, $345/st for granular, $355/st for premium, $390/st for OMRI standard and fine standard, and $420/st for OMRI granular.
Eastern Cornbelt:
Potassium thiosulfate was steady at $680/st FOB Terre Haute in late June.
Western Cornbelt:
Potassium thiosulfate pricing remained at $680/st FOB in Iowa.
Eastern Cornbelt:
Strong thunderstorms swept through the Eastern Cornbelt on June 25-26, causing widespread power outages and prompting thunderstorm warnings and flood advisories in some locations. Michigan was also hit with strong winds and heavy rain during the week.
Winds as high as 65 mph were reported in central Illinois on June 25, and nearly 103,000 Indiana residents were without power as the system swept through that state. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for multiple Ohio counties early on June 26, with flood advisories in effect in Ashtabula County due to heavy rain.
Good or excellent ratings were assigned to 60-63% of the corn and 59-61% of the soybeans in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio on June 23. Michigan crops were in slightly better condition, with 71% of the corn and 62% of the soybeans rated as good or excellent on that date.
Western Cornbelt:
Iowa continued to be battered by frequent and strong storms during the last week of June. Multiple tornadoes were spotted in eastern Iowa on June 25, with reports of damage to outbuildings and trees. Another round of storm activity was expected in central Iowa late in the week, with forecasts warning of damaging winds and up to an inch of rainfall in some locations.
Nebraska was also bracing for potentially strong thunderstorms on June 27-28, while Missouri was expecting high heat, humidity, and an increased chance of storm activity over the coming weekend.
Fully 79-82% of Nebraska’s corn and soybeans were rated as good or excellent on June 23, along with 74-77% of the acreage in Iowa and Missouri. Missouri’s cotton crop was 56% good or excellent on that date, while rice acreage in the state was rated at 72% good or excellent.
Southern Plains:
Hot weather sparked thunderstorms across Oklahoma and Kansas as the week progressed, with forecasts warning of potentially severe storms in eastern Kansas by the weekend.
Heat advisories were issued at midweek for all of north and central Texas, with triple-digit highs reported in Dallas-Fort Worth and lows staying in the 80s. Forecasts warned of heat index readings in the 105-110 degree range over the weekend in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Patches of extreme-to-exceptional drought were reported across western Texas and southern New Mexico during the week, with larger areas of moderate-to-severe drought showing up in northern New Mexico, central Oklahoma, and western Kansas.
Cotton planting as of June 23 was 91-96% complete in the Southern Plains, with sorghum planting estimated at 80% complete in Colorado, 86% in Kansas, 91% in Oklahoma, and 98% in Texas. Growers also had 82% of the sunflowers planted in Colorado and Kansas, while the regional winter wheat harvest had progressed to 95% complete in Oklahoma, 74% in Texas, 53% in Kansas, and just 1% in Colorado.
South Central:
Strong thunderstorms rolled through parts of Arkansas and Tennessee at midweek, sparked by temperature in the 90s and high humidity. Another round of high heat and humidity was in the weekend forecast for the region.
Louisiana’s bayou parishes picked up as much as four inches of rain at midweek, causing localized flooding, with strong storms also reported in parts of Mississippi on June 26. High heat was on tap again for the weekend, with highs expected in the 90s across Louisiana and Mississippi.
Corn in Kentucky and Tennessee was 65-69% good or excellent as of June 26, with soybeans in those two categories totaling 88% of the acreage in Louisiana, 71-72% in Arkansas and Tennessee, and 63-66% in Kentucky and Mississippi. Louisiana’s cotton crop was fully 96% good or excellent, compared with 70-72% in Arkansas and Mississippi and 57% in Tennessee, while rice in the good or excellent categories totaled 82-88% of the crop in Arkansas and Louisiana, 77% in Texas, and 48% in Mississippi.
Southeast:
High temperatures prompted heat advisories across the Southeast in late June and stressed crops as emerging drought conditions expanded across the region.
The US Drought Monitor said most of Virginia and North Carolina were experiencing moderate drought during the week. Severe thunderstorm watches and warnings were in effect at midweek in central Virginia, central Florida, and Alabama, while temperatures in Georgia rose to the upper-90s and triple digits.
Just 30-34% of North Carolina’s corn and soybeans were rated as good or excellent during the week, with fully 49% of the corn and 28% of the soybeans rated as poor or very poor. Cotton in the good or excellent categories totaled 75% of the crop in Virginia, 69% in Alabama, 59% in Georgia, 50% in South Carolina, and 40% in North Carolina.
Fully 90% of Virginia’s peanut crop was rated as good or excellent as of June 26, compared with 71% in Alabama, 48% in North Carolina, and 57-59% in the rest of the region.
US Gulf:
Port Allen Lock will shut completely from July 30 to Aug. 3 and again on Aug. 12-15 for miter gate repair. Transit through the site was unavailable for nearly one month earlier in the year following a March 28 miter gate hinge anchorage failure.
Repairs at Bayou Boeuf Lock are scheduled through approximately July 10, limiting Monday-Friday travel between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Leland Bowman Lock was scheduled to close to daytime navigation on June 25-29.
Guidewall work at Bayou Sorrel Lock scheduled through Oct. 30 limited movements from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., sources said. Delays were reported up to 35 hours, down from 60 hours at last check. Brazos Lock repairs are projected to run into October, restricting weekday navigation from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Delays were noted up to 89 hours during the week.
Repairs to the San Jacinto River Bridge in the Houston area are expected to run into July or August. Traffic was limited to single-wide travel through the western side of the channel, while passage was completely unavailable through the channel’s eastern side.
Port Allen Lock waits were counted up to 12 hours on June 27. Sources noted 45-hour delays at Industrial Lock, down from 50-69 hours at last report, while intermittent 4-8 hour wait times were recorded at Algiers Lock. Bayou Boeuf Lock waits peaked at nine hours on June 26, and Corps data showed 16 tows in line to pass Harvey Lock on June 27.
Mississippi River:
High-water conditions intensified on the Upper Mississippi River during the week, closing the St. Paul harbor and extending a navigational outage at Savage, Minn. Travel is not expected to resume at either location until the first week of July at the earliest, while sources warned of potential closures at Locks 12-13 and 16-17 as early as June 26-27.
The National Weather Service gauge at St. Paul returned a major-flood 19.1-foot reading on June 27. Levels were predicted to crest at 20.8 feet on June 29 before falling to a moderate-flood 15.4 feet on July 3. Movements at St. Paul will remain idled until depths recede below the 14-foot mark, sources said. The Savage gauge, posted at a major-flood 713.5 feet at midweek, was forecast to peak at 715.7 feet on June 29-30.
Lock 8 was closed to navigation on June 24 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Travel was unavailable through the Fort Madison Bridge on June 23. The closure is scheduled to repeat on June 30. Lock 21 will shut to daytime travel on Aug. 13, sources said.
Intermittent 4-6 hour delays were reported at Lock 19, and Corps data showed a handful of 4-8 hour wait times at Lock 20. The Cumberland River’s Old Hickory Lock will see a full closure on July 8 to Aug. 1 for hydraulic line replacement. The lock was shut to daytime navigation on June 10-27.
Illinois River:
Maximum loading drafts continued to edge lower on the Illinois River during the week, sources said. Drafts were capped at 9.5 feet at Miles 1-231 for tows traveling in both the northbound and southbound directions, while draft limits fell to 9.0 feet above Mile 231.
Planned miter gate gear box repairs will force four-hour shutdowns at Dresden Island Lock on July 9 and Brandon Road Lock on July 10, sources said, leaving travel unavailable from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Wait times were quoted up to seven hours at Marseilles Lock. Tows transiting Starved Rock Lock waited up to six hours to pass. Lowered wickets at Peoria Lock and LaGrange Lock prompted delays up to 10 hours and seven hours, respectively.
Ohio River:
Sources continued to report towing reductions on the Ohio River due to low water levels, with maximum loading drafts noted at 90-95% of normal capacity. Drafts reportedly topped out at 10-10.5 feet depending on location and direction of travel, while tow lengths were allowed up to 15 barges.
The main chamber at Markland Lock is due to shut for 19 hours daily between July 8 and Aug. 2 and again from Aug. 12 through Sept. 6, forcing vessels to detour through the auxiliary chamber.
The Hannibal Lock primary chamber is closed through Nov. 8 for miter gate repairs, forcing delays up to 72 hours. Corps data showed 21 vessels in line to lock on June 27. Machinery repairs in progress through July 11 at Racine Lock produced minimal delays during the week.
The main chamber at John T. Myers Lock will reportedly shut to navigation between Aug. 21 and Nov. 9. A similar outage in October 2023 resulted in delays up to four days in length. Belleville Lock will experience 30-day main and auxiliary chamber shutdowns during the second half of the year.
The Tennessee River’s Wilson Lock will close to daytime navigation on July 8-18. Wilson Lock delays were quoted up to 16 hours, while tows waited up to 11 hours to pass Kentucky Lock.
Arkansas River:
The Van Buren Bridge will close for repairs on Aug. 16-Sept. 8, sources said. A single opening to pass queued vessels is tentatively scheduled following the ninth day of work. The bridge is located at Mile 300.8.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents more than 9,000 workers at Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railroads, has authorized a second strike vote as labor contract negotiations with the railroads remain stalled.
An earlier strike vote in late April was overwhelmingly supported by union workers (GM May 3, p. 1), but the planned strike on May 22 was averted when the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) intervened and requested information from both parties on whether a strike would have potential safety implications (GM May 24, p. 1).
The submission deadline for those responses was June 14 and the CIRB’s ruling is expected imminently. According to a June 11 statement from the TCRC, a second strike vote commenced on June 14 and will run until June 29, with the union claiming that “CN and CPKC are only interested [in} frustrating the process and circumventing the membership’s right to withdraw services.”
“It is clear we cannot rely on a timely conclusion to these unfortunate circumstances and must protect our rights regardless of outcome,” the TCRC statement said. “We are very confident this can be a quick process with shorter turnaround because of the preparation and hard work already performed for the first ballot. This will ensure the TCRC is ready for any situation and are able to respond accordingly.”
The Loadstar reported on June 18 that the final submissions to the CIRB revealed that neither the railroads nor the TCRC believe “essential services” will be disrupted by a strike, likely paving the way for a labor action in July. According to documents provided to The Loadstar, CN told the CIRB that a work stoppage “would not cause an immediate and serious threat to the safety or health of the public” as “there are alternative modes of transportation for all of the commodities addressed by the affected parties.”
Canadian labor laws prohibit unions from declaring a strike unless its members have approved walking off the job in the previous 60 days, which TCRC members did in late April. The union is required to give a 72-hour strike notice in the wake of the CIRB ruling or member voting results. Both CN and CPKC have requested a 30-day cooling off period before any labor action could commence after the CIRB’s ruling, but the TCRC opposes this delay.
“This is another suspicious strategy employed by the companies,” the TCRC said in a statement. “The normal operation should prevail once the board has issued its decision.”
CN and CPKC said the 30-day period was “critical to mitigate risks to health and safety” by allowing the railroads to properly halt the transportation of potentially dangerous products. “It will also reduce economic harm by providing customers with sufficient time to arrange for alternate transportation for their commodities,” CN said.
As the likelihood of a summer strike grows, the TCRC in early June proposed that negotiations with the two railroads should be staggered by two weeks to avoid simultaneous stoppages at CN and CPKC, which the union said would reduce “the economic impacts from any disruption to the supply chain from a strike or lockout.” However, TCRC said both railroads rejected the proposal.
Also in early June, CN reported that it had formally offered the TCRC to enter into binding arbitration to reach a new collective labor agreement and avoid a strike, but CN said the TCRC rejected the voluntary arbitration process and all offers put to them (GM June 7, p. 1).
CPKC and CN rail workers are seeking higher wages, as well as concessions in crew scheduling, hours of work, and fatigue management. The workers represented by the TCRC include conductors, engineers, yard workers, and traffic controllers.
