Analysts were expecting to see historically large corn sales this past week, which USDA confirmed in its latest export report, out Thursday morning and covering the week through May 20. Soybean and wheat sales were more muted but still fell within the range of analyst estimates that came out prior to the report.

Corn exports saw 21.9 million bushels in old crop sales plus another 224.1 million bushels in new crop sales for a total tally of 246.0 million bushels. Analysts were expecting a blockbuster total this past week, with trade guesses ranging between 228.3 million and 291.3 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are now close to doubling last year’s pace, with 1.934 billion bushels.

Corn export shipments eased 6% below the prior four-week average, to 72.8 million bushels. China was the No. 1 destination, with 33.3 million bushels. Mexico, Colombia, Japan and South Korea filled out the top five.

Old crop sorghum sales fell to a marketing-year low after a net reduction of 3.2 million bushels last week. But there were still 2021/22 sales totaling 6.5 million bushels, for a net gain of 3.3 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still more than doubling last year’s pace, with 234.7 million bushels.

Soybean exports only gathered 2.1 million bushels in old crop sales, plus another 9.1 million bushels in new crop sales for a total tally of 11.2 million bushels. That was on the lower end of trade estimates, which ranged between 920,000 bushels and 29.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year still have a commanding lead over last year’s pace, with 2.103 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments slid 4% below the prior four-week average, to 10.8 million bushels. Indonesia topped all destinations, with 3.1 million bushels. Mexico, Egypt, Japan and Taiwan filled out the top five.

Old crop wheat exports dropped 76% week-over-week to 1.1 million bushels. New crop sales added another 13.7 million bushels for a total of 14.8 million bushels. That was near the middle of trade guesses, which ranged between 4.6 million and 25.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year remain slightly ahead of last year’s pace, with 885.7 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments fell 7% week-over-week and 5% below the prior four-week average, with 19.4 million bushels. Japan was the No. 1 destination, with 3.4 million bushels. Mexico, the Philippines, China and Indonesia rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights and insights from the latest USDA report, which covers May 14 through May 20.