Export sales of the corn, soybean and wheat crops were lower in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest weekly report, with wheat sales at a marketing-year low and missing trade forecasts.
Old-crop corn sales of 1.4 million bu. were down 60% from the prior week and missed forecasts by a large margin. However, with the crop year for corn ending Aug. 31, the attention is largely on new-crop sales. The old-crop sales were led by China, Colombia and Mexico and were slightly less than the weekly pace needed to meet USDA’s annual sales forecast.
New-crop corn sales of 17.3 million bu. were down nearly 10% from the prior week but matched forecasts in a Reuters poll, with Mexico, Peru and unknown destinations as the leading buyers.
Old-crop soybean sales of about 8.6 million bu. were down 23% from the prior week but matched trade forecasts. Germany, the Netherlands and Bangladesh led buyers. As in corn, most of the attention in soybeans is on the new crop year, which starts Sept. 1. New-crop sales of 13.5 million bu. also were down from the prior week and were led by China, unknown destinations and Thailand.
Wheat sales of 5.3 million bu. were down sharply from the prior week and at a marketing-year low. Indonesia, the Philippines and Colombia led buyers.
Crop futures markets were lower before and after the export report and had little reaction to the numbers. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) September soybeans closed that session down 13-1/2 cents, and September corn was down 3-1/2 cents. CBOT September soft red winter wheat was down 4-3/4 cents, and Kansas City, Mo., September hard red winter wheat finished the overnight session down 5-1/4 cents. Spring wheat for September closed 8-1/2 cents lower.
Soybean meal export sales 87,100 metric tons were sharply up from the prior week and matched trade forecasts. Bangladesh, China and Canada led buyers. New-crop business of 57,700 mt was up slightly from a week ago and also matched forecasts, with Colombia, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic as the leading buyers.
Soybean oil sales for the 2016-17 crop year of 10,700 metric tons were down 28% from the prior week but within forecasts, with Mexico, Guatemala and Canada as the leading buyers.
Old-crop sorghum sales were 6.4 million bu. and went to China. New-crop sales of 2.36 million bu. also went to China.
