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Soybean volume holds mostly steady from a week ago, per the latest USDA data.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

January 27, 2020

2 Min Read
Albert Yarullin/ThinkstockPhotos

USDA’s latest grain export inspection data showed mixed but mostly favorable results for the week ending January 23. Corn volume nearly doubled, and soybeans took a modest turn lower, while wheat fell to less than half of last week’s tally.

Corn export inspections almost doubled the prior week’s tally after reaching 26.3 million bushels, although the volume was a bit under the average trade guess of 27.6 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2019/20 marketing year continue to lag significantly behind last year’s pace, however, at just 399.6 million bushels since July 1.

Mexico (10.4 million) and Colombia (9.5 million) were by far the top two destinations, as they have been in recent weeks. Japan contributed another 3.5 million bushels, with Nicaragua and Panama rounding out the top five.

Soybean export inspections continue to dominate all grain movement, with another 38.2 million bushels last week. That total still slipped 14% from the prior week, however, while barely besting the average trade guess of 36.7 million bushels. Cumulative totals for 2019/20 are now at 926.5 million bushels, trending 23% higher year-over-year so far.

China accounted for nearly half of the total U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 17.9 million bushels. Japan, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Mexico rounded out the top five.

China also accounted for 4.8 million bushels of sorghum export inspections, which has not happened in some time.

Wheat turned in the poorest performance last week, with export inspections reaching only 8.2 million bushels and tumbling 57% below the prior week’s tally. Analysts also expected more robust results, with an average trade guess of 18.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2019/20 marketing year remain 13% above last year’s pace for now, with 596.1 million bushels.

Japan was by far the No. 1 destination for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 3.0 million bushels, followed by Ecuador (2.0 million) and Mexico (1.5 million). Light volume from a broad range of geographies filled in the rest last week.

Click here to read the entire latest export inspection data from USDA.

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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