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Corn, soybean and wheat volume all take a step back from the prior week’s tally.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

October 25, 2021

2 Min Read
Container ship in the North Sea
Getty/iStockphoto

The latest batch of grain export inspection data from USDA, out Monday morning and covering the week through Oct. 21, showed corn, soybean and wheat volume retreating from the prior week’s results. Corn and wheat totals were lackluster, failing to match analyst expectations. Soybeans also moved lower but remain relatively robust.

Corn export inspections were disappointing, tumbling 48% from a week ago to 21.5 million bushels. That was below the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 29.5 million and 47.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year remain moderately behind last year’s pace, with 185.5 million bushels.

Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 10.7 million bushels. Japan, China, Colombia and Costa Rica rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections improved to 3.2 million bushels last week. That grain is largely bound for China, with Mexico, Djibouti, Madagascar and Vietnam also accounting for modest amounts. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are off to a moderately sluggish start compared to last year, with 16.5 million bushels since the beginning of September.

Soybean export inspections saw week-over-week reductions of around 14% but still turned in a strong performance with 77.3 million bushels. However, it was still toward the lower end of trade guesses, which ranged between 66.1 million and 96.5 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still significantly behind last year’s pace, with 298.7 million bushels.

China dominated all destinations for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 56.6 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Lebanon and Algeria filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections shifted fractionally lower week-over-week, to 5.2 million bushels. That was below the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 5.5 million and 16.5 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are falling farther behind last year’s pace, reaching 348.3 million bushels.

Taiwan was the No. 1 destination for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 1.4 million bushels. Japan, Mexico, Chile and Italy rounded out the top five.

Click here to read more from the latest USDA grain export inspection report, which covers the week through Oct. 21.

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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