USDA’s new set of grain export sales data, out Thursday morning and covering the week through March 31, contained a set of mostly pedestrian numbers that analysts were largely expecting to see. As a result, today’s report barely moved the needle on grain prices immediately following its release. It’s also worth noting that old crop corn, soybean and wheat sales all moved lower from their prior four-week averages.

Corn exports saw old crop sales improve 23% week-over-week to 30.8 million bushels. New crop sales accounted for another 5.7 million bushels, for a total of 36.5 million bushels. That was on the lower side of trade estimates, which ranged between 22.6 million and 55.1 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2021/22 marketing year are trending slightly behind last year’s pace, with 1.331 billion bushels.

Corn export shipments shifted 13% lower from a week ago but stayed 2% above the prior four-week average, with 64.3 million bushels. China was the No. 1 destination, with 18.1 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea rounded out the top five.

Sorghum exports were disappointing after posting net reductions of more than 400,000 bushels last week. Export shipments fared better but were still 11% behind the prior four-week average, with 9.3 million bushels. Most of that grain is bound for China, with Mexico picking up the tiny remainder.

Soybeans saw 29.4 million bushels in old crop sales plus another 11.0 million bushels in new crop sales for a total of 40.4 million bushels. That was near the middle of trade guesses, which ranged between 22.0 million and 57.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still running almost 400 million bushels behind last year’s pace, with 1.631 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments firmed 20% above the prior four-week average to 30.6 million bushels. China topped all destinations, with 16.9 million bushels. Egypt, Mexico, Japan and Indonesia filled out the top five.

Wheat exports gathered 5.7 million bushels in old crop sales and another 8.2 million bushels in new crop sales for a total of 13.9 million bushels. That was a bit on the lower end of trade estimates, which ranged between 3.7 million and 27.6 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year remain moderately below last year’s pace, with 580.8 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments slid 8% below the prior four-week average to 11.4 million bushels. The Philippines led all destinations, with 3.2 million bushels. Mexico, Taiwan, Nigeria and Thailand rounded out the top five.

Click here for more from USDA’s latest report, covering March 25 through March 31.