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Corn and wheat also slide below their prior four-week averages.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

December 3, 2020

2 Min Read
Ripening soybeans in southeast Minnesota on Sept. 30, 2019.
Janet Kubat Willette

The latest export sales report from UDSA, out Thursday morning and covering the week through November 26, held plenty of disappointing data for traders to digest. Soybean sales tumbled to a marketing-year low, while corn and wheat volume fell slightly below their prior four-week averages.

Soybean sales only reached 15.0 million bushels last week, tumbling 68% below the prior four-week average and landing on the low end of trade estimates, which ranged between 14.7 million and 42.3 million bushels. Increases from China, Thailand, Vietnam and other locations were largely offset by a large reduction from unknown destinations. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still way ahead of last year’s pace, with 996.7 million bushels.

Soybean export shipments were much more robust, with 91.6 million bushels, but that was still 6% below the prior four-week average. China was by far the No. 1 destination, with 73.9 million bushels. Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico and Spain rounded out the top five.

Corn export sales fell 14% below the prior four-week average, with 54.0 million bushels but made it to the high end of trade estimates, which ranged between 31.5 million and 63 million bushels. Mexico was the top buyer, with 25.9 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2020/21 marketing year are maintaining a healthy lead over last year’s pace, with 408.4 million bushels.

Related:Weekly Export Sales – Soybeans and wheat disappoint

Corn export shipments made it to a marketing-year high, meantime, with 42.2 million bushels. China was the No. 1 destination, with 18.7 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Guatemala and Honduras filled out the top five.

Sorghum export sales slipped 6% below the prior four-week average, to 9.4 million bushels. Increases from China more than offset reductions from unknown destinations. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are nearly fivefold last year’s pace, with 50.2 million bushels so far.

Wheat export sales dipped 5% below the prior four-week average, with 16.4 million bushels, landing in the middle of trade guesses that ranged between 9.2 million and 25.7 million bushels. Mexico led the way, with 3.3 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are fractionally below last year’s pace, with 454.6 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments climbed 40% above the prior four-week average to 16.6 million bushels. The Philippines topped all destinations, with 4.4 million bushels. China, Indonesia, Mexico and Honduras filled out the top five.

Click here to see more highlights from the latest USDA export report, covering November 20 through November 26.

Related:Weekly Grain Movement – Wheat and corn capture improvements

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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