For the week ending May 24, corn bested trade expectations and last week’s results but couldn’t move the needle on price, with July futures slipping a half-cent lower Tuesday morning. Wheat also came in stronger than a week ago, with soybeans failing to match the prior week’s pace. 

Corn export inspections topped 67.1 million bushels last week, topping trade estimates that ranged between 55.1 million and 66.9 million bushels. It also beat out the prior week’s total by 11.6%. Marketing year-to-date totals for 2017/18 have reached 1.484 billion bushels.

Japan (8.2 million bushels), South Korea (7.8 million bushels) and Mexico (7.6 million bushels) were the top three destinations for U.S. corn inspections last week. Other significant destinations included Vietnam, Spain and Colombia.

Soybean export inspections slipped 35.5% below the prior week’s total of 32.8 million bushels, coming in at 21.2 million bushels for the week ending May 24. That amount fell on the low end of trade estimates, which ranged between 18.4 million and 29.4 million bushels. Marketing year-to-date totals for 2017/18 climbed to 1.698 billion bushels.

China topped all destinations for U.S. soybean inspections last week, with nearly 9.0 million bushels – nearly half of the total. Other top destinations included Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands and Indonesia.

Wheat export inspections rebounded from the prior week’s total of 12.5 million bushels by more than 26%, reaching 15.8 million bushels. That was also on the high end of trade estimates, which ranged between 9.2 million and 18.4 million bushels. Marketing year-to-date totals for 2017/18 are at 863 million bushels. 

Japan was the No. 1 destination for U.S. wheat inspections, with 4.2 million bushels, followed closely by China, which accounted for 3.6 million bushels. Other top destinations included Mexico, Chile, South Korea, Italy and Spain.