USDA’s latest batch of grain export inspection data, out Monday morning and covering the week through December 16, held another mixed bag of numbers for traders to digest. Corn arguably turned in the best results, moving above the prior week’s tally and climbing to the higher end of trade estimates. In contrast, soybean and wheat volume trended lower from a week ago.

Corn export inspections made it to 39.4 million bushels this past week. That was on the higher end of trade estimates, which ranged between 23.6 million and 47.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still lagging behind last year’s pace but are slowly gaining ground, reaching 445.4 million bushels.

Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with just under 14.0 million bushels. China, Japan, South Korea and Nicaragua rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections more than doubled from a week ago, climbing to 12.5 million bushels. That grain was primarily bound for China, with Japan and Mexico taking the tiny remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year remain moderately behind last year’s pace for now, with 61.1 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections drifted slightly below the prior week’s tally, with 61.7 million bushels. That was also toward the lower end of trade guesses, which ranged between 55.1 million and 77.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still moderately behind last year’s pace, with 997.6 million bushels.

China was once again by far the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 34.7 million bushels. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Mexico filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections tipped 21% lower week-over-week, to 7.8 million bushels. Analysts were generally expecting a bigger haul, with trade guesses that ranged between 7.3 million and 14.7 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year continue to lose ground versus last year’s pace, reaching 427.4 million bushels.

Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. wheat export inspections, with 3.4 million bushels. South Korea, Nigeria, Italy and the Dominican Republic rounded out the top five.

Click here to read more from the latest USDA grain export inspection report.