Hurricane Zeta which became a category two storm with 100 mile per hour winds on Wednesday hit the Mississippi Gulf area this week. Soy Transportation Coalition Executive Director Mike Steenhoek says any possible export port damage is being assessed., as that’s a critical area for soybean and corn shipments with 60 percent of soybeans and 57 percent of corn coming out of that area to global customers.
He says the hope is that port operations will resume in the short term.
Steenhoek says it’s been a tough year for storms hitting the Mississippi Gulf area and Louisiana with Zeta being the fifth this year.
Steenhoek says each year, 80 percent of U.S. soybean exports occur between the months of September and February. He adds that last week alone, 48 million bushels of U.S. soybeans and 18.4 million bushels of corn were exported from the lower Mississippi River.
