USDA’s latest weekly grain export inspection report, out Monday morning and covering the week through November 5, held another mixed bag of data for traders to digest. Soybeans emerged as the clear winner, moving higher week-over-week and besting all analyst estimates. Corn and wheat saw modest week-over-week declines, in contrast.

Soybean export inspections moved slightly higher to reach 91.7 million bushels. That was above all trade estimates, which ranged between 71.7 million and 82.7 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are almost double last year’s pace, with 714.9 million bushels.

China continues its role as the dominant buyer of U.S. soybeans, coming in with another 66.9 million bushels of export inspections last week. Germany, Thailand, Mexico and South Korea rounded out the top five.

Corn export inspections were lackluster, in contrast, sliding 7% below the prior week’s tally to 27.2 million bushels. Analysts were generally expecting a more robust haul, with trade guesses ranging between 25.6 million and 39.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year remain well ahead of last year’s pace, meantime, with 298.3 million bushels.

As with soybeans, China accounted for the most U.S. corn export inspections last week, with just under 8.0 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Honduras and Panama filled out the top five.

Related:Weekly Export Sales – Corn climbs another 16% higher

Sorghum export inspections notched another 2.8 million bushels last week, falling 30% below the prior week’s tally. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year still maintain a healthy year-over-year lead, with 28.3 million bushels. Last week’s tally is largely bound for China, with a small remainder headed to Haiti and South Korea.

Wheat export inspections drifted slightly lower week-over-week, landing at 11.2 million bushels. That was on the lower end of trade estimates, which ranged between 9.2 million and 18.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are barely ahead of last year’s pace, with 430 million bushels.

The Philippines topped all destinations for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 4.4 million bushels. Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Honduras rounded out the top five.

Click here to walk through additional data from USDA’s latest grain export inspection report.