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Soybeans stand strong, while wheat and corn face moderate declines

Ben Potter, Senior editor

December 6, 2021

2 Min Read
Ship on the river next to grain outloading station
iStockphoto/KoliadzynskaIryna

USDA’s latest batch of grain export inspection data, out Monday morning and covering the week through December 2, showed another mixed round of numbers for traders to digest. Soybean volume remains strong but slid fractionally lower week-over-week. Corn also saw a modest decline from a week ago, while wheat trended moderately lower and continues to slump further below year-ago totals.

Corn export inspections faded 6% lower week-over-week to 29.8 million bushels. That was slightly on the lower end of trade estimates, which ranged between 23.6 million and 39.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year continue to slide further below last year’s pace after reaching 369.2 million bushels.

Mexico accounted for just over half of all U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 15.0 million bushels. China, Honduras, El Salvador and Colombia rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections moved slightly lower week-over-week, to 6.7 million bushels. The vast majority of that grain is heading to China, with Mexico taking in the small remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still moderately behind last year’s pace, with 43.9 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections inched fractionally below the prior week’s tally, to 82.6 million bushels. That nearly bested the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 68.0 million and 85.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are nonetheless failing to keep pace with year-ago totals, with 866.0 million bushels.

China remained the dominant destination for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 53.8 million bushels. Germany, Mexico, Taiwan and Italy filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections spilled 37% lower week-over-week, to 9.0 million bushels. That was a bit toward the lower end of trade estimates, which ranged between 5.5 million and 14.7 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still tracking moderately behind last year’s pace, with 409.6 million bushels.

South Korea topped all destinations for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 2.7 million bushels. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Taiwan rounded out the top five.

Click here to read more from the latest USDA grain export inspection report.

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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