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Corn, soybeans and wheat all see week-over-week declines.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

October 28, 2021

2 Min Read
Ship with containers at shipping yard
Getty/iStockphoto

USDA’s latest set of grain export sales data, out Thursday morning and covering the week through Oct. 21, held mostly disappointing data for traders to digest. Corn, soybean and wheat volume all trended lower week-over-week. While corn and wheat totals barely stayed within the range of analyst expectations, soybeans dipped below all trade guesses. Commodity prices were moderately in the red immediately following the report.

Corn export sales were down 30% week-over-week and 10% below the prior four-week average, with 35.1 million bushels. Analysts were generally expecting a bigger haul, with trade guesses ranging between 31.5 million and 52.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year remain moderately behind last year’s pace, with 202.5 million bushels.

Corn export shipments also trended lower, down 34% from a week ago and 24% below the prior four-week average, with 27.1 million bushels. Mexico was the No. 1 destination, with 10.8 million bushels. Japan, Colombia, China and Costa Rica rounded out the top five.

Soybean exports slumped 59% lower week-over-week and tracked 22% below the prior four-week average, with 43.5 million bushels. That was also below the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 45.9 million and 74.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still well behind last year’s pace so far, with 302.8 million bushels.

Soybean export shipments fared much better, jumping 81% above the prior four-week average to 88.4 million bushels. China was by far the No. 1 destination, with 65.8 million bushels. Mexico, the Netherlands, Japan and Pakistan filled out the top five.

Wheat exports slumped 26% lower from a week ago and 31% below the prior four-week average to 9.9 million bushels. That was toward the lower end of trade guesses, which ranged between 7.3 million and 20.9 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still tracking moderately below last year’s pace, with 314.4 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments faded 52% below the prior four-week average, but still improved 16% from a week ago, reaching 6.8 million bushels. Taiwan topped all destinations, with 1.4 million bushels. Japan, Mexico, Ecuador and Chile rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights and insights from the latest USDA report, covering Oct. 8 through Oct. 21.

About the Author(s)

Ben Potter

Senior editor, Farm Futures

Senior Editor Ben Potter brings two decades of professional agricultural communications and journalism experience to Farm Futures. He began working in the industry in the highly specific world of southern row crop production. Since that time, he has expanded his knowledge to cover a broad range of topics relevant to agriculture, including agronomy, machinery, technology, business, marketing, politics and weather. He has won several writing awards from the American Agricultural Editors Association, most recently on two features about drones and farmers who operate distilleries as a side business. Ben is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

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