Arkansas River tonnage down through February

Arkansas River tonnage totaled 1.81 million tons in the first two months of 2025, down 1.3% compared with 2.07 million tons in the same period of 2024, according to a recent report from the U.S. Corps of Engineers (USACE).

Double-digit percentage declines in shipments of sand, gravel, and rock, and chemical fertilizer contributed to the lower tonnage.

The early 2025 trend follows a 1.95% increase in tonnage during 2024 to 12.44 million tons. Also, river activity surged in the fourth quarter of 2024 with shipments in the final three months up 15.8% compared with the same period in 2023.

Inbound shipments in the first two months of 2025 — those coming from off the river system — totaled 654,273 tons, down 0.2% compared with the same period in 2024. Outbound shipments totaled 733,205 tons, down 11% compared with the same period in 2024. Internal shipments — those sent between port operations on the river — totaled 424,804 tons, down 29.1%.

Following are the top five shipment categories by tonnage in the first two months of 2025, with the percentage change from 2023.

• Sand, gravel, rock: 610,376 tons (down 15%)
• Chemical fertilizer: 417,870 tons (down 16%)
• Soybeans: 204,800 tons (up 14%)
• Iron and steel: 173,872 tons (up 19%)
• Other chemicals: 96,515 tons (up 30%)

Bryan Day, executive director of the Port of Little Rock, said tonnage shifts are sometimes tied to the use of sand, gravel and rock by the USACE on river projects.

“When projects kick back off, that number will go up,” Day said.

He also said liquid fertilizer shipments are likely down because of the seasonal market and tonnage will rise in the spring. Overall, Day is positive about river activity.

“Our January and February tonnage is slightly up due to steel coil movements,” he said. “We believe that our 2025 river tonnage will increase.”

Citing the unknowns of tariffs implemented and proposed by the Trump administration, Marty Shell, owner of Van Buren-based Five Rivers Distribution, which manages port operations in Van Buren and the Port of Fort Smith, is not as optimistic.

“We anticipated some small increases due to tariffs coming and beginning in the first quarter of 2025,” Shell said. “I foresee the tonnage start to fall off some with the tariffs and talk of a recession.”

2024 TONNAGE HISTORY, RIVER INFO
Tonnage shipped on the Arkansas River in 2024 totaled 12.44 million tons, up 1.95% compared with 2023 tonnage. The increase was driven by a 13% increase in sand, gravel, and rock shipments, and 8% and 41% gains in wheat and soybean shipments, respectively.

Inbound shipments — those coming from off the river system — totaled 3.79 million tons during 2024, down 16% compared with 2023. Outbound shipments totaled 4.76 million tons, up 134% compared with 2023. Internal shipments — those sent between port operations on the river — totaled 3.88 million tons, up 10%.

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.