Weekly corn, soybean and wheat export sales were down from the prior week, but the corn and soybeans topped trade forecasts, while the wheat fell short of forecasts.

China was again the leading buyer of soybeans, while Japan led corn buyers and Nigeria led the wheat buyers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its weekly report.

The report put weekly corn sales at nearly 49.3 million bu., which was down 18% from the previous week but topped the trade forecasts in a Reuters poll by a large margin. Japan, Mexico and South Korea were the leading buyers.

In daily reporting on Thursday, USDA said Mexico bought 3.95 million bu. of 2017-18 corn. That sale will be included in a future weekly export report.

Soybean sales of 66.6 million bu. for 2016-17 supplies were down 10% from the prior week. After China, the leading buyers included Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. About 246,000 bu. of 2017-18 soybeans were sold to Japan.

The wheat sales of 10.9 million bu. were down 44% from the prior week. The business was led by Nigeria, Mozambique and Indonesia.

Chicago, Ill., corn, soybean and wheat markets had little reaction to the export report in the closing minutes of the overnight session. Corn futures closed the session down 1.25 cents/bu. in March and down 1 cent in May. January soybeans were down 7.25 cents/bu., and March was down 7.5 cents. March soft red winter wheat futures closed a quarter-cent lower, March hard red winter wheat was unchanged, and March spring wheat was up 0.25 cent/bu.

Soybean meal export sales of 139,200 metric tons were down 30% from the prior week and matched trade forecasts. Mexico, Canada and unknown destinations led buyers. A 500 mt sale of 2017-18 soybean meal went to Canada.

Soybean oil sales of 15,100 mt were down a sharp 63% from the prior week and matched trade forecasts. The business was led by the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Colombia.

Sorghum sales of 3.5 million bu. were down sharply from the previous week. China and Japan were the leading buyers.