The latest grain export sales report from USDA, out Thursday morning and covering the week through December 9, held mostly bullish data for traders to digest. Corn volume reached a marketing-year high for 2021/22, as did wheat. Soybean sales were relatively muted, in contrast, sliding 20% below the prior week’s tally.

Old crop corn export sales jumped 74% above the prior four-week average and captured a new marketing-year high, with 76.7 million bushels. New crop sales added another 29.7 million bushels, for a total tally of 106.4 million bushels. That was also on the upper end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 75.8 million and 114.2 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2021/22 marketing year are still a bit behind last year’s pace after moving to 458.4 million bushels.

Corn export shipments trended 21% higher week-over-week and 11% above the prior four-week average, with 43.0 million bushels. Mexico was the No. 1 destination, with 12.5 million bushels. China, Japan, Canada and Colombia rounded out the top five.

Old crop soybean export sales fell 20% lower week-over-week and slid 6% below the prior four-week average, with 48.1 million bushels. New crop sales added another 5.1 million bushels, for a total of 53.2 million bushels. That was toward the lower end of trade estimates, which ranged between 40.4 million and 69.8 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still moderately trailing last year’s pace, with 934.1 million bushels.

Soybean export shipments trended 17% below the prior four-week average, with 70.5 million bushels. China accounted for more than half of the total, with 38.1 million bushels. Egypt, Mexico, Spain and Thailand filled out the top five.

Wheat export sales climbed to a marketing-year high and trended noticeably above the prior four-week average, with 23.9 million bushels. That was also higher than the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 7.3 million and 16.5 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year remain moderately behind last year’s pace, with 379.0 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments were up 29% from a week ago and matched the prior four-week average, with 10.1 million bushels. Japan was the No. 1 destination, with 2.9 million bushels. Mexico, Nigeria, Taiwan and Venezuela rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights and insights from the latest USDA report, covering December 3 to December 9.