Grain export inspections for the week ending January 2 was again a mixed bag of data, with USDA delivering the latest numbers Monday morning. Corn and wheat saw modest gains from the prior week, with soybeans down a bit but still favorable year-over-year.

Soybeans led the way in total volume again last week, with 35.4 million bushels. That was a 3% decline from a week ago but still moderately bested the average trade guess of 27.6 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2019/20 marketing year are now at 799 million bushels, outpacing last year’s tally by more than 25% so far.

China was the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 13.5 million bushels, but there were plenty of other buyers of the commodity from a variety of geographies. Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Netherlands rounded out the top five.

Corn export inspections improved 35% week-over-week after reaching 21.7 million bushels. That total also bested the average trade guess of 19.7 million bushels. Still, the 2019/20 marketing year is still off to a dismal start compared to a year ago, with just 338.6 million bushels since the start of September.

Mexico (10.1 million) and Colombia (6.1 million) were the top two destinations by far, accounting for more than three-fourths of the total last week. Japan, Honduras and Guatemala rounded out the top five.

Wheat export inspections also improved week-over-week after reaching 12.7 million bushels. That tally wasn’t good enough to match analyst estimates, with the average trade guess at 14.7 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2019/20 marketing year are now at 545.5 million bushels, versus 475.5 million bushels the same time a year ago.

Nigeria topped all destinations for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 2.7 million bushels. No one else accounted for more than a single cargo load, with the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Panama rounding out the top five. Mexico, which leads all destinations some weeks, only accounted for 902,000 bushels this time around.

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