Corn, soybeans and wheat all make the high end of trade estimates.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

January 29, 2018

7 Slides

USDA’s latest round of export inspection data was mostly positive for the week ending January 25. Corn and soybeans both made the high end of trade estimates, while wheat volume surpassed the average trade guess entirely.

Wheat export inspections came in at 21.3 million bushels, well above the average trade guess of 9 million to 16 million bushels. It was also moderately ahead of last week’s total (15.6 million bushels), but made no real dents in the weekly rate needed to reach USDA’s forecast, now at 21.1 million bushels. Cumulative volume for the 2017/18 marketing year, which began June 1, have reached 595 million bushels, not far behind the 2016/17 pace of 618 million bushels.

Indonesia was the No. 1 destination for weekly wheat export inspections, with 5.4 million bushels. Other top destinations included Japan (3.3 million bushels), the Philippines (2.9 million bushels), Guatemala (1.9 million bushels) and Mexico (1.5 million bushels).

Corn export inspections, at 39.1 million bushels, came in at the top of the average trade guess, which ranged between 27 million and 39 million bushels. That amount was moderately higher than the prior week’s total of 28.5 million bushels, but lags slightly behind the weekly rate needed to meet USDA’s forecasts, now at 43.3 million bushels. Cumulative sales for 2017/18 have reached 541 million bushels, which is 34% slower than the pace set in 2016/17.

Japan was the No. 1 customer of U.S. corn export inspections for the week ending January 25, with 12.5 million bushels. Other top destinations included Colombia (8.5 million bushels), Mexico (6.0 million bushels), South Korea (2.5 million bushels) and Morocco (2.4 million bushels).

Soybean export inspections totaled 40.6 million bushels, right in line with trade expectations that ranged between 29 million and 47 million bushels. That was moderately lower than the week prior’s total of 52.3 million bushels, but bested the weekly rate needed to meet USDA’s forecast, now at 29.2 million bushels. Year-to-date sales have reached 1.227 billion bushels, which is about 14% below the pace of 2016/17. 

China accounted for more than half of last week’s soybean export inspections, as it typically does, with 23.1 million bushels. Other top destinations included the Netherlands (2.8 million bushels), Afghanistan (2.5 million bushels), Japan (2.2 million bushels) and South Korea (2.2 million bushels).

About the Author(s)

Ben Potter

Senior editor, Farm Futures

Senior Editor Ben Potter brings two decades of professional agricultural communications and journalism experience to Farm Futures. He began working in the industry in the highly specific world of southern row crop production. Since that time, he has expanded his knowledge to cover a broad range of topics relevant to agriculture, including agronomy, machinery, technology, business, marketing, politics and weather. He has won several writing awards from the American Agricultural Editors Association, most recently on two features about drones and farmers who operate distilleries as a side business. Ben is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

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