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Corn volume eases week-over-week but still up big in 2020/21

Ben Potter, Senior editor

June 21, 2021

2 Min Read

The latest batch of grain export inspection data from USDA, out Monday morning and covering the week through June 17, held mixed but mostly positive numbers for traders to digest. While corn volume took a step back this past week, totals for the 2020/21 marketing year still have a commanding lead over last year’s pace. Soybean and wheat volume saw weekly improvements. Soybeans stayed near the middle of trade guesses, while wheat surpassed the entire range of analyst estimates.

Corn export inspections slid slightly lower week-over-week after reaching 58.3 million bushels. That was also near the middle of trade estimates, which ranged between 47.2 million and 64.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year remain far ahead of last year’s pace, with 2.186 billion bushels.

China accounted for more than half of U.S. corn export inspections this past week, with 31.3 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, El Salvador and Guatemala rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections took a sharp week-over-week tumble to 721,620 bushels. Most of that grain is bound for Somalia, with South Korea picking up the small remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still nearly doubling last year’s pace, with 253.4 million bushels.

Related:Record U.S. corn exports brace for volatility

Soybean export inspections saw moderate week-over-week improvements after reaching 6.4 million bushels. That was very close to the middle of trade estimates, which ranged between 3.7 million and 11.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year remain well ahead of last year’s pace, now at 2.094 billion bushels.

Indonesia topped all destinations for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 2.5 million bushels. Japan, Mexico, Belgium and China filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections saw another 20.2 million bushels, notching a weekly improvement of 10%. It was also better than all trade estimates, which ranged between 11.0 million and 19.3 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the young 2021/22 marketing year have started off a bit behind last year’s pace, with 45.7 million bushels since June 1.

The Philippines led all destinations for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 3.7 million bushels. Mexico, Nigeria, Thailand and Colombia rounded out the top five.

Click here to read more highlights 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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