Arkansas River tonnage down 1% through February

Commercial shipping on the Arkansas River in the first two months of 2024 totaled 2.078 million tons, down 1% compared with the same period in 2023. Declines in shipments of chemical fertilizer and iron and steel pushed tonnage levels lower.

Inbound shipments – those coming from off the river system – totaled 655,814 tons during the first two months, down 27% compared with the same period in 2023, according to the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Outbound shipments totaled 823,056 tons, up 17% compared with the same period in 2023. Internal shipments – those sent between port operations on the river – totaled 599,528 tons, up 21%.

Following are the top five shipment categories by tonnage in the first two months of 2024, with the percentage change from the same period in 2023.
• Sand, gravel, rock: 722,198 tons (up 36%)
• Chemical fertilizer: 498,592 tons (down 17%)
• Soybeans: 179,972 tons (up 73%)
• Iron and Steel: 146,118 tons (down 41%)
• Food and Farm Products: 127,344 tons (up 21%)

Bryan Day, executive director of the Port of Little Rock, said traffic has been slower but believes shipments will improve as the year progresses.

“Barge rates are slightly higher today than in previous months and some of the river cargo has transferred to rail or truck. As fertilizer season kicks in, we should see a significant increase in river tonnage and I feel strongly that by year’s end, overall tonnage on the MKARNS (Arkansas River) will show a slight increase over the previous year,” Day said.

Marty Shell, president of Van Buren-based Five Rivers Distribution and a member of the Arkansas Waterways Commission, is also optimistic about tonnage gains in 2024 and pointed to specific agricultural market shifts for expected gains. Five Rivers also operates the Port of Fort Smith.

“With the warmer than usually February and March we have seen an earlier fertilizer season and a shorter feed season for the cattle industry. With the corn supplies coming out of storage up north we should see the chicken feed markets picking back up in the second or third quarter of this year,” Shell said. “We are watching the weather as we enter into April and May and hope Mother Nature is good to us as the previous past few years and look forward to a strong second quarter by barge, rail, and truck.”

TONNAGE HISTORY, RIVER INFO
Tonnage shipped on the river in 2023 totaled 12.208 million, up 10.9% compared with 11.011 million tons in 2022. Shipments of sand, gravel, rock and chemical fertilizers helped drive the 2023 gains.

Inbound shipments – those coming from off the river system – totaled 4.491 million tons during 2023, up 30% compared with 2022. Outbound shipments totaled 4.175 million tons, up 6% compared with 2022. Internal shipments – those sent between port operations on the river – totaled 3.542 million tons, down 1% compared with 2022.

The Arkansas River system – McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) – is 445 miles long and stretches from the confluence of the Mississippi River to the Port of Catoosa near Tulsa, Okla. The controlled waterway has 18 locks and dams, with 13 in Arkansas and five in Oklahoma. The river also has five commercial ports: Pine Bluff, Little Rock, Fort Smith, Muskogee, Okla., and the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in Oklahoma.