Export inspections for the week ending December 14 saw a significant volume uptick for some crops, but that momentum couldn’t carry forward rolling into the holidays. Corn, soybean and wheat volume were all down for the week ending December 21.

Soybeans came in at 47.1 million bushels, close to the middle of trade expectations, which ranged from 36.7 million and 58.8 million bushels. That volume was moderately below the prior week’s total of 65.2 million bushels, however.

This week a year ago, soybean export inspections were also moderately higher, at 63.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2017/18 marketing year, which began September 1, just missed the 1-billion-bushel mark, landing at 998.4 million bushels. Year-to-date volume from 2016/17 was 1.154 billion bushels.

China accounted for just over 75% of the total volume for the week ending December 21, with around 35.8 million bushels. Other significant purchasers for the week included Japan, Thailand, Mexico, Turkey and Indonesia.

Corn export inspections for the week ending December 21, at 23.9 million bushels, failed to meet trade expectations, which ranged between 25.6 million bushels and 33.5 million bushels. Total volume was still slightly higher than the anemic results of 23.4 million bushels posted the week prior.

Corn export inspection volume this week a year ago, meantime, was moderately higher, at 38.7 million bushels. Total pace of the 2017/18 marketing year, which began September 1, continues to lag far behind the pace of 2016/17, with 387.5 million bushels compared to 646.1 million bushels.

Japan was the top purchaser for the week, at around 6.4 million bushels. Other significant destinations for the week ending December 21 included Mexico, Colombia, Peru and the Philippines.

Wheat export inspections for the week ending December 21 couldn’t quite match the volume from a week ago, with 18.1 million bushels compared to 21.5 million bushels for the week ending December 14. Still, results landed the grain at the high end of trade expectations, which ranged from 12.8 million bushels to 20.2 million bushels.

Total volume this week a year ago was 19.8 million bushels. Cumulative volume for the 2017/18 marketing year, which began June 1, has reached 522.8 million bushels, which remains a bit behind the 2016/17 pace of 555.9 million bushels.

Iraq and Japan were the top purchasers of U.S. wheat this week, with a total volume of about 3.8 million bushels each. Other significant purchases came from Nigeria, Thailand, South Korea and Mexico.

A closer look at total grain inspections by location showed just over half (51%) was shipped via the Gulf of Mexico. Another 32.3% was shipped from Pacific ports, with the remainder shipped via Atlantic, Great Lakes and interior locations.