The latest weekly export sales report from USDA, out Thursday morning and covering the week through January 28, held some pretty impressive data to digest. For starters, corn raced not only to a marketing-year high, but also posted the largest weekly tally on record. Wheat also jumped 69% higher week-over-week, with old crop soybean sales also up 77% from a week ago.

Corn export sales raced to 292.8 million bushels in old crop sales last week, thanks to some aggressive Chinese purchases that totaled 230.7 million bushels. New crop sales chipped in another 3.3 million bushels (all destined for Japan) for a total tally of 296.1 million bushels. That was on the higher end of trade estimates, which ranged between 236.2 million and 326.8 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are now at 788 million bushels, eclipsing last year’s pace of 437.3 million bushels.

Corn export shipments were more lackluster, spilling 17% below the prior four-week average to 39.2 million bushels. Japan led all destinations, taking just under 10 million bushels. China, Mexico, Colombia and Chile rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export sales dropped 62% below the prior four-week average, to 2.5 million bushels, with the vast majority of that grain bound for China. Cumulative sales for the 2020/21 marketing year are still tripling last year’s pace, with 106.6 million bushels. Sorghum export shipments were up noticeably from a week ago, to 12.2 million bushels, with China accounting for 100% of the total.

Soybean export sales jumped significantly higher week-over-week, with 30.3 million bushels in old crop sales plus 23.3 million bushels in new crop sales for a total of 53.6 million bushels. That was in the middle of trade estimates, which ranged between 23.9 million and 82.7 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year have almost doubled last year’s pace so far, with 1.746 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments were solid, even after slipping 7% below the prior four-week average to 72.1 million bushels. China again accounted for more than half of the total, with 46.2 million bushels. The Netherlands, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan filled out the top five.

Old crop wheat sales tilted 69% higher week-over-week, to 23.6 million bushels. New crop sales added another 3.4 million bushels, for a total of 27.0 million bushels. That was on the high end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 9.2 million and 27.6 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year have reached 588.2 million bushels, which is fractionally below last year’s pace.

Wheat export shipments slipped 2% lower week-over-week but still stayed 29% above the prior four-week average, with 18.3 million bushels. Nigeria was the No. 1 destination, with 3.7 million bushels. South Korea, Mexico, Japan and the Philippines rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights from the latest USDA export report, covering January 22 through January 28.