Weekly Grain Movement – Volume flattened out last weekWeekly Grain Movement – Volume flattened out last week

USDA’s latest batch of grain export inspection data didn’t have much bullish data for traders to digest. Corn totals fell 43% week-over-week and dropped below the entire range of trade guesses. Soybeans also moved moderately lower from the prior week, with wheat volume nearly trimmed in half from a week ago.

Corn export inspections fell to 39.7 million bushels for the week ending June 24. That was below all trade estimates, which ranged between 47.2 million and 66.9 million bushels. Meanwhile, cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year remain well ahead of last year’s pace, reaching an impressive 2.237 billion bushels.

China was once again the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with another 13.2 million bushels. Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Honduras rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections roughly doubled its week-over-week volume but were still relatively lackluster, with 1.5 million bushels. Sudan accounted for the vast majority of that total, with Mexico accounting for the tiny remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year still hold a solid lead over last year’s pace, with 254.9 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections were almost cut in half compared to a week earlier, falling to 3.8 million bushels. That was also on the very low end of trade estimates, which ranged between 3.7 million and 11.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year still hold a commanding lead over last year’s pace, with 2.101 billion bushels.

Related:Market’s next move: $6 corn -- or $4.50 corn?

Mexico accounted for nearly half of all U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 1.8 million bushels. Indonesia, Panama, Vietnam and Japan filled out the top five.

Wheat exports spilled lower from a week ago, moving to 10.5 million bushels. That was also below the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 14.7 million and 22.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the first three and a half weeks of the 2021/22 marketing year are down 23%, reaching 56.3 million bushels.

Mexico topped all destinations for U.S. wheat export inspections this past week, with 2.5 million bushels. South Korea, Kenya, Ethiopia and Nigeria rounded out the top five.

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