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Port of Baltimore slowly reopening

The chief ag negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says shipping channels are slowly reopening at the Port of Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.

Doug McKalip says “by the end of April, they’ll have a 35 foot channel open to one-way traffic. By the end of May, a 50 foot deep channel that will accommodate two-way vessel traffic.”

He says that will help alleviate any challenges moving ag inputs, like fertilizer.

“There’s a lot of fertilizer business that takes place through that particular port so we’re having a lot of discussions there, too.”

He says the Biden administration is trying to minimize any major short term or long-term effects the closure of shipping channels might have on ag exports.

McKalip says shipping costs have been an added challenge this year with closures at the Port of Baltimore, low water levels in the Panama Canal, challenges in the Gulf of Aden and the Black Sea region.

He was a speaker at the Ag Commodity Futures Conference last week.