Mississippi River reopens to barges after Gustav

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The entire Mississippi River, the most important U.S. commercial waterway, has reopened to barge traffic after being closed near New Orleans due to Hurricane Gustav, said the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday.

More than 300 miles of the commercial waterway, stretching from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico, was closed following the landfall of the Category 2 hurricane on Monday.

The Mississippi River is a major channel for the transportation of grain, coal and petroleum products.

Elevators in the Mississippi Gulf shipped more than 56 million tonnes of grain last year, making it the busiest U.S. location for shipments of corn, soybeans and wheat.

Major grain companies such as Cargill Inc, Archer Daniels Midland Co and Bunge Ltd are still awaiting electricity to be restored to their grain export terminals on the lower Mississippi River in Louisiana.

Grain loadings were expected to resume on Friday.

Several oil refineries were also still shut due to a lack of power.

(Reporting by Lisa Shumaker; Editing by John Picinich)