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Export Sales: Corn sends mixed messages

Sales slump to a marketing-year low while shipments soar.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

March 4, 2021

2 Min Read
vencavolrab/ThinkstockPhotos-

The newest round of export sales and shipment data from USDA, out Thursday morning and covering the week through February 25, had some bearish and bullish data to digest. Although soybean and wheat volume increased week-over-week, totals were still below their prior four-week averages. And although corn sales fell to a marketing-year low, shipments re-wrote the record books last week.

Old crop corn sales plummeted to a marketing-year low of 4.6 million bushels. New crop sales only chipped in another 1.5 million bushels, for a total of 6.1 million bushels. That was below the entire range of analyst estimates, which ranged between 17.1 million and 41.3 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still nearly doubling last year’s pace, meantime, with 1.030 billion bushels.

Corn export shipments were remarkedly better, reaching a marketing-year high of 79.1 million bushels. Japan (13.8 million) and China (13.6 million) were the top two destinations. Mexico, South Korea and Saudi Arabia rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export sales saw a net reduction of 2.1 million bushels due to cancellations from China. Export shipments also fell 42% lower week-over-week. Cumulative sales for the 2020/21 marketing year are still maintaining a healthy lead over last year’s pace, with 119.5 million bushels

Old crop soybean sales moved noticeably higher week-over-week, with 12.3 million bushels. New crop sales added another 7.3 million bushels, for a total tally of 19.6 million bushels. That was on the higher end of trade estimates, which ranged between 3.7 million and 29.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still nearly doubling last year’s pace, with 1.936 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments rose 18% week-over-week but remained 22% below the prior four-week average, with 42.7 million bushels. China was the No. 1 destination, with 11.8 million bushels. Germany, Egypt, Taiwan and Japan filled out the top five.

Old crop wheat sales improved 31% week-over-week to reach 8.1 million bushels. New crop sales added another 863,000 bushels for a total of 8.9 million bushels. That was on the lower end of trade estimates, which ranged between 3.7 million and 22.9 million bushels. Cumulative totals for 2020/21 remain modestly behind last year’s pace, with 647.7 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments were mostly stable, tilting 4% above last week’s tally but 5% below the prior four-week average, with just under 15 million bushels. Mexico was the No. 1 destination, with 5.4 million bushels. Indonesia, Thailand, Honduras and Nigeria rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights from the latest USDA export report, which covers February 19 through February 25.

Missed last week's report? Check out Export Sales: Corn and wheat disappoint

About the Author

Ben Potter

Senior editor, Farm Futures

Senior Editor Ben Potter brings two decades of professional agricultural communications and journalism experience to Farm Futures. He began working in the industry in the highly specific world of southern row crop production. Since that time, he has expanded his knowledge to cover a broad range of topics relevant to agriculture, including agronomy, machinery, technology, business, marketing, politics and weather. He has won several writing awards from the American Agricultural Editors Association, most recently on two features about drones and farmers who operate distilleries as a side business. Ben is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

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