Double drought
Low water levels for US inland waterways. The Mississippi River is running low on water and threatening exports in 2023 – as was already the case in 2022.
The immediate impact hasn’t struck yet this year, but there’s talk in the industry of historically low water levels on the Mississippi River for the second year in a row. According to the corresponding drought monitor, no less than 22.7% of the USA was experiencing “moderate to exceptional” drought at the end of July 2023. This represented a substantial increase from the previous week’s figure of 21.6%.
The upper and lower parts of the Mississippi valley are particularly heavily affected. The river serves ten states there and usually ensures the transport of goods such as soya, maize, chemical products and gas. Substantial proportions thereof are destined for export.
Mike Steenhoek, who is the executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition umbrella organisation, which groups the soya bean boards of 13 states and two national associations, said that inland waterways are experiencing problems all the way down to the Panama Canal. Despite heavy rains this spring, he fears that “the pendulum is swinging from high to low tide more rapidly” than in previous years.
The US Army Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of maintaining the country’s inland waterways, has deployed 16 dredgers along the Mississippi, to ensure the necessary depth of navigation channels and ports. The follow-up costs of the 2022 drought alone were estimated at USD 22.1 billion.