The latest set of grain export inspection data from USDA, out Monday morning and covering the week through April 7, came in largely as expected after staying within the range of trade estimates. Wheat moved moderately higher from a week ago, with soybeans tracking slightly higher week-over-week. In contrast, corn slid slightly lower, with sorghum volume nearly sliced in half.

Corn export inspections reached 55.9 million bushels, which was a weekly decline of around 8%. It was also a bit on the lower end of trade guesses, which ranged between 43.3 million and 76.9 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still moderately below last year’s pace, with 1.260 billion bushels.

China was the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 18.6 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Colombia and Taiwan rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections fell sharply from a week ago, moving to 5.7 million bushels. That grain is largely bound for China, with Mexico and Chad picking up the slim remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are slightly behind last year’s pace, with 181.0 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections made modest week-over-week improvements to reach 28.2 million bushels. That was also toward the higher end of trade guesses, which ranged between 18.4 million and 33.1 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still substantially below last year’s pace, with 1.651 billion bushels.

China was again the top destination for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 15.6 million bushels. Egypt, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Mexico filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections firmed 29% week-over-week to reach 15.1 million bushels. That was also on the very high end of trade estimates, which ranged between 9.2 million and 16.5 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are moderately trailing last year’s pace, with 647.7 million bushels.

The Philippines was the No. 1 destination for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 2.4 million bushels. Mexico was close behind, with 2.3 million bushels. Japan, El Salvador and Thailand rounded out the top five.

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