Farm Progress

Corn and soybean export sales also rebound from a week ago.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

December 21, 2017

2 Min Read
Bow view of fully loaded cargo ship.Stewart Sutton/ThinkstockPhotos

Wheat weekly export sales took already strong results from a week ago and added another 35% to the ledger for the week ending Dec. 14, posting a 2017/18 marketing year high (which began June 1). Corn and soybean export sales were also up 80% and 20% from a week ago, respectively.

Wheat export sales came in at 29.2 million bushels. Trade estimates were between 11 million and 22 million bushels. Last week’s volume was already a stronger-than-average 22 million bushels. Another 1.4 million bushels in new crop sales for the 2018/19 marketing year were also reported. 

Wheat export shipments were also up big – 88% over a week ago and 92% above the four-week average. Primary destinations for the week ending Dec. 14 was led by Indonesia, with 4.3 million bushels, followed by Guatemala (2.7 million), Iraq (1.9 million), Mexico (1.5 million) and Thailand (1.4 million).

Corn export sales topped 61.4 million bushels in old and new crop sales for the week ending Dec. 14. That was significantly ahead of last week’s total of 34.1 million bushels and exceeded the average trade guess that ranged between 31.5 million and 47.2 million bushels. The largest customers included Mexico, unknown destinations, Colombia, Japan and Costa Rica.

Corn export shipments were closer to past results, edging up 2% form a week ago with a volume that was 7% higher than the prior four-week average. The top destination was once again Mexico, with 12.3 million bushels, followed by Japan (5.8 million), Saudi Arabia (2.9 million), South Korea (2.4 million) and Colombia (1.6 million).

Soybean export sales also posted a significant rebound from a week ago, with 64.0 million bushels, finishing 20% ahead of last week and 34% above the prior four-week average. That landed in the high end of trade estimates, which ranged between 47.8 million and 71.7 million bushels.

Soybean export shipments were mixed, coming in 22% ahead of last week’s volume, but down 16% from the four-week average. Total volume for the week was 56.6 million bushels, with 62% of the total volume (35.1 million bushels) headed to China. Other top destinations included Pakistan (4.8 million), Mexico (2.5 million), Egypt (2.5 million) and South Korea (2.2 million).

Sorghum export sales hit a marketing year high, surging 38% higher than a week ago and 27% above the prior four-week average, with net sales totaling 17.2 million bushels. Roughly 80% of the total was marked for China, with the remainder for unknown destinations. Export shipments of 9.9 million bushels were also 60% ahead of the prior four-week average.

Cotton export sales saw an uptick in volume, with net sales totaling 326,500 bales. That’s 26% above the prior week and 21% ahead of the four-week average.

 

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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