KIRBY CORP

The tank barge industry is very competitive. Competition in this business is based on price and reliability, with many of the industry’s customers emphasizing enhanced vetting requirements, an increased emphasis on safety, the environment, and high-quality service consistent with the customer’s operational standards. Customers also require that their supplier of tank barge services have the ability to handle a variety of requirements, including distribution capabilities throughout the inland waterway system and coastal markets, high levels of flexibility, and an emphasis on safety, environmental and financial responsibility, as well as appropriate insurance coverage.

In the inland markets, the Company’s direct competitors are primarily noncaptive inland tank barge operators. “Captive” fleets are owned by refining and petrochemical companies which occasionally compete in the inland tank barge market, but primarily transport cargoes for their own account. The Company is the largest inland tank barge carrier, both in terms of number of barges and total fleet barrel capacity. The Company’s inland tank barge fleet has grown from 71 tank barges in 1988 to 1,076 tank barges as of December 31, 2023, or approximately 27% of the estimated total number of domestic inland tank barges.

In the coastal markets, the Company’s direct competitors are the operators of United States tank barges in the 195,000 barrels or less category. Coastal tank barges in the 195,000 barrels or less category have the ability to enter the majority of coastal ports. Ocean-going tank barges and United States product tankers in the 300,000 barrels plus category, excluding the fleet of large tankers dedicated to Alaska crude oil transportation, occasionally compete in the 195,000 barrels or less market to move large volumes of refined petroleum products within the Gulf of Mexico with occasional movements from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast, along the West Coast and from Texas and Louisiana to Florida. However, access to United States ports of approximately 45 such product tankers is limited by terminal size and draft restrictions.

While the Company competes primarily with other tank barge companies, it also competes with companies who operate refined product and petrochemical pipelines, railroad tank cars, and tractor-trailer tank trucks. As noted above, the Company believes that both inland and coastal marine transportation of bulk liquid products enjoy a substantial cost advantage over railroad and truck transportation on a barrel per mile basis. The Company believes that refined product and crude oil pipelines, although often a less expensive form of transportation than inland and coastal tank barges, are not as adaptable to diverse products and are generally limited to fixed point-to-point distribution of commodities in high volumes over extended periods of time.