Earlier this spring, corn has been leading all grains in total volume in USDA’s weekly export sales reports, out each Thursday morning. But for the past two weeks, soybeans has jumped to the top, thanks to an abundance of new crop sales, even as old crop sales were relatively disappointing for the week ending June 11.

Soybean old crop sales slumped 46% lower than a week ago and 36% below the prior four-week average to land at 19.8 million bushels. But new crop sales jumped to 50.8 million bushels, bringing total sales to 70.6 million bushels. That still wasn’t enough to meet the prior week’s total haul of 81.4 million bushels but still stayed in the middle of trade guesses, which ranged between 40.4 million and 91.8 million bushels. China was again the dominant buyer, with 49.7 million bushels, or roughly 70% of all purchases. Cumulative totals for the 2019/20 marketing year still maintain a slim lead over last year’s pace, with 1.345 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments were up 32% from last week but still slipped 4% below the prior four-week average, with 14.2 million bushels. Egypt was the No. 1 destination, with 3.3 million bushels. Mexico, China, Bangladesh and Canada rounded out the top five.

Corn export sales were disappointing last week, with old crop sales dropping 45% below the prior four-week average to 14.1 million bushels. New crop sales added another 4.5 million bushels for a total tally of 18.6 million bushels. That was below all trade estimates, which ranged between 19.7 million and 49.2 million bushels. Japan and Mexico have generally been the biggest buyers this year, but Guatemala emerged as the top destination last week, with 4.9 million bushels. Total sales for the 2019/20 marketing year are increasingly unlikely to match last year’s pace after reaching 1.226 billion bushels.

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Corn export shipments were also down moderately from the prior four-week average, falling to 34.5 million bushels. Mexico topped all destinations, with 8.8 million bushels. Japan, South Korea, China and the Philippines filled out the top five.

Sorghum exports saw a slight reduction in old crop sales, but an influx in new crop sales brought last week’s numbers to 4.2 million bushels. China resumed its role as the primary buyer. Cumulative sales for the 2019/20 marketing year continues to be a hidden gem in these reports, nearly tripling last year’s pace at 120.9 million bushels.

Wheat exports saw 18.5 million bushels in sales last week, moving ahead of all trade estimates, which ranged between 9.2 million and 18.4 million bushels. Guatemala topped all destinations, with 4.7 million bushels. The 2020/21 marketing year is just a week and a half old at this point, but cumulative all-wheat sales are slightly behind last year’s pace, with 24.2 million bushels.

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Wheat export shipments were for 17.9 million bushels last week. The Philippines led all destinations, with 4.3 million bushels. Mexico, Yemen, Japan and Chile rounded out the top five.

Click here to see more highlights from USDA’s latest export report, covering the period between June 5 and June 11.