Tonnage & Trade Inland & coastwise markets / 2026-08-07T12:00:00Z Rates up a fifth week with September quoted 14 to 41% higher, and the first low-water advisory is posted /river-notes/river-note-2026-08-07.html 2026-08-07T12:00:00Z Ken Beegle The Coast Guard posted the season's first low-water advisory on the Lower Mississippi, the export corridor rose $1.19 to $19.28 a ton, and USDA's forward quotes now date the squeeze: September carries the premium, November is quoted back near par. The low-water rate spike came two months early /analysis/low-water-rate-spike-2026-08.html 2026-08-03T12:00:00Z Ken Beegle Barge freight on the lower Mississippi jumped 24 percent in the last full week of July, a move this river usually saves for late September. Rates up $3.55 with October quoted 25 to 44% higher, and Memphis forecast below zero by Aug 7 /river-notes/river-note-2026-07-31.html 2026-07-31T12:00:00Z Ken Beegle Every river system rose for the week ending July 28. The Lower Mississippi export corridor jumped $3.55 to $18.09 a ton, and USDA's published forward curve now quotes every origin region above its current rate three months out. China's soybean book is 12.4 million tons with seven weeks left: 40% of the 2021–23 pace, in a season that began at zero /analysis/china-soy-book-2026-07.html 2026-07-23T12:00:00Z Ken Beegle Cumulative marketing-year purchase commitments (outstanding sales + shipments), China, U.S. soybeans · USDA Export Sales Reporting via Tonnage & Trade internal data, release of Jul 22, 2026 · data through the week ending Jul 9, 2026 The inland system lost 28% of its tonnage in 20 years: coal is most of the story, and everything else held /analysis/demand-base-2026-07.html 2026-07-23T12:00:00Z Ken Beegle Internal (inland-waterway) receiving tonnage by commodity group, 2004–2023 · USACE Waterborne Commerce Statistics via Tonnage & Trade internal data, release of Jul 22, 2026 Scarcity set barge pricing in Q1: the July 29 print tests whether it holds /analysis/kex-2026-07-q1-review-q2-preview.html 2026-07-23T12:00:00Z Ken Beegle Prepared July 23, 2026 · Reviewing Q1 2026 (released April 30, 2026) · Previewing Q2 2026: July 29, 2026, 6:00 a.m. Central, call 7:30 · Evidence refreshed through the July 22, 2026 Tonnage & Trade data release The retirement wall: the 1997 build boom meets its 30-year exams with replacement running at a fifth of the old pace /analysis/retirement-wall-2026-07.html 2026-07-23T12:00:00Z Ken Beegle Censused U.S. barge fleet by build year · USACE vessel census (2023 vintage) via Tonnage & Trade internal data, release of Jul 22, 2026 Rates jumped 10–25% across every river system, and the forward read says the tightening isn't done /river-notes/river-note-2026-07-23.html 2026-07-23T12:00:00Z Ken Beegle Rates and model through the week of Jul 14 · lock and river conditions through Jul 21 · export sales through Jul 9 · all figures from the Tonnage & Trade data release of Jul 22, 2026 Why I Started Tonnage and Trade /notes/why-i-started-tonnage-and-trade.html 2026-07-15T12:00:00Z Ken Beegle Kenneth Beegle, founder