The latest round of export sales data from USDA, out Thursday morning and covering the week through April 1, held mostly bearish data for traders to digest. Soybeans fared the worst results after seeing net reductions for old crop grain, pushing totals to a marketing-year low. Old crop wheat volume also fell to a marketing-year low last week. Corn totals fared much better but were still 54% below the prior four-week average.

Corn exports found 29.8 million bushels in old crop sales, which eased 5% lower week-over-week. New crop sales chipped in another 2.0 million bushels, for a total tally of 31.8 million bushels. That was also on the lower end of trade guesses, which ranged between 21.7 million and 47.2 million bushels. On the brighter side, cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still nearly double last year’s pace, with 1.416 billion bushels.

Corn export shipments were much stronger, inching 6% ahead of the prior four-week average to 80.8 million bushels. China topped all destinations, with 22.8 million bushels. Mexico wasn’t far behind, with 18.6 million bushels. Japan, South Korea and Colombia rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export sales saw slight net reductions last week, which pushed totals noticeably below the prior four-week average. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still nearly tripling last year’s pace, however, with 157.1 million bushels.

Soybean exports saw net reductions in old crop sales of 3.4 million bushels last week. New crop sales accounted for 12.4 million bushels, meantime, creating a total tally of 9.0 million bushels. Trade guesses weren’t very bullish, either, ranging between 3.7 million and 22.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year still hold a commanding lead over last year’s pace after reaching 2.027 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments also fell to a marketing-year low of 12.7 million bushels last week. Egypt was the No. 1 destination, with 4.4 million bushels. Mexico, Costa Rica, Indonesia and Taiwan filled out the top five.

Old crop wheat exports also eroded to a marketing-year low of 3.0 million bushels last week. But new crop sales of 19.5 million bushels were much more robust, bringing the total tally to 22.5 million bushels. That was on the higher end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 5.5 million and 25.7 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still slightly ahead of last year’s pace, with 746.6 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments climbed 23% above the prior four-week average to 23.3 million bushels. China was the No. 1 destination, with 7.4 million bushels. Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines and Ecuador rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights and insights from the latest USDA export report, which covers March 26 through April 1.