It was another mixed bag for weekly grain export inspections for the week ending Nov. 30. Wheat volume hit the high end of the trade guess and soybeans exceeded expectations by a full 11 million bushels, but corn volume underperformed for the week.

Corn export inspections fell below the average trade guess of 27 million to 39 million bushels, with 23.1 million bushels. That’s also lower than volume from a week ago (25.1 million bushels) and this week a year ago (46.6 million bushels). The weekly rate needed to meet USDA’s forecast has now reached 40.4 million bushels. And cumulative totals for the 2017/18 marketing year, which began Sept. 1, have reached 309 million acres, compared to 541 million acres in 2016/17.

Mexico was again the top corn export destination last week, with 8.0 million bushels. Following close behind was Colombia, with 7.4 million bushels. Other top destinations included Japan (4.0 million) and Peru (1.2 million).

Soybean export inspections came in above the trade guess range of 44 million to 55 million bushels, with a total of 66.2 million bushels. That’s slightly ahead of last week’s volume (63.3 million bushels) but slightly behind the volume from this week a year ago (70.7 million bushels). Total volume for the 2017/18 marketing year, which began Sept. 1, continue to lag behind the pace of 2016/17, with 840 million bushels versus 959 million bushels.

China was the No. 1 destination for soybean export inspections for the week ending Nov. 30, with 41.7 million bushels. Other top destinations included Thailand (6.1 million), Indonesia (4.3 million), the Netherlands (2.5 million), Portugal (2.5 million), South Korea (2.2 million) and Mexico (1.5 million).

Wheat export inspections landed in the high end of the average trade guess of 9 million to 16 million bushels, coming in at 15.1 million bushels for the week. That’s ahead of last week (12.8 million bushels), but behind the volume this week a year ago (20.1 million bushels). The weekly rate needed to meet USDA’s forecast is now 20.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2017/18 marketing year, which began July 1, are slightly behind the pace set in 2016/17, with 469 million bushels versus 502 million bushels.

Taiwan was the No. 1 destination for wheat export inspections last week, with 3.6 million bushels. Other top destinations included Malaysia (2.3 million), South Korea (1.9 million), Japan (1.3 million) and Mexico (1.3 million).