USDA’s latest weekly export report, out Thursday morning and covering the week through March 4, didn’t have any outstanding news but still held some bullish details. Old crop corn, soybeans and wheat sales all trended higher from the prior week’s dismal tally, but all three crops still failed to match their prior four-week averages.

Old crop corn sales were up noticeably from a week ago but remained 48% below the prior four-week average, with 15.6 million bushels. New crop sales added another 11.3 million bushels for a total of 26.9 million bushels, making it to the upper end of analyst estimates that ranged between 16.7 million and 33.5 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still far ahead of last year’s pace, with 1.093 billion bushels.

Corn export shipments were more robust, with 62.7 million bushels – a 4% improvement versus the prior four-week average. China was the No. 1 destination, with 13.7 million bushels. Japan, Mexico, Egypt and South Korea rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export sales reached 2.4 million bushels last week, with the entirety of that grain bound for China. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are roughly tripling last year’s pace so far, with 121.8 million bushels.

Old crop soybean sales climbed 32% higher week-over-week but remained 5% below the prior four-week average, with 12.9 million bushels. New crop sales contributed another 7.8 million bushels, for a total of 20.7 million bushels. That was on the high end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 9.2 million and 23.9 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are now at 1.959 billion bushels, which is more than 800 million bushels ahead of last year’s pace so far.

Soybean export shipments tumbled 45% below the prior four-week average to 25.9 million bushels, meantime. China was the No. 1 destination, with 8.3 million bushels. Egypt, Indonesia, Germany and Mexico filled out the top five.

Old crop wheat sales jumped 50% above the prior week’s tally to 12.1 million bushels. New crop sales chipped in another 1.1 million bushels, for a total tally of 13.2 million bushels. That was towards the upper end of trade estimates, which ranged between 5.5 million and 16.5 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year have reached 664.9 million bushels and are still slightly trailing last year’s pace.

Wheat export shipments moved 16% ahead of the prior four-week average, to 17.2 million bushels. China topped all destinations, with 4.8 million bushels. A quartet of Asian countries – South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan – rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights and insights from the latest USDA export report, which covers February 26 through March 4.