The latest set of grain export sales data from USDA, out Thursday morning and covering the week through January 25, held another mixed bag of numbers for traders to digest. Corn volume came in strong, exceeding the entire set of analyst estimates. In sharp contrast, soybeans eroded to a marketing-year low, and wheat was also relatively lackluster.

Corn exports found 53.2 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales. Old crop sales trended 58% above the prior four-week average. Total sales were better than the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 31.5 million and 53.1 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year remain moderately ahead of last year’s pace so far, with 640.5 million bushels.

Corn export shipments were very close to the prior four-week average, with 35.9 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, China, Colombia and Canada were the top five destinations.

Sorghum exports saw 2.8 million bushels in old crop sales that were more than erased by new crop cancellations totaling 4.7 million bushels. The old crop sales will be shipped to China. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are still substantially above last year’s pace so far, with 102.8 million bushels.

Soybean exports only made it to 6.1 million bushels last week. Old crop sales stumbled 64% below the prior four-week average and fell to a new marketing-year low. Sales were also noticeably below the entire set of analyst estimates, which ranged between 18.4 million and 40.4 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2023/24 marketing year are still moderately below last year’s pace, with 1.003 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments fell 18% below the prior four-week average, with 34.9 million bushels. China, Egypt, Mexico, Spain and Japan were the top five destinations.

Wheat exports saw 12.4 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales last week. Old crop sales slid 9% below the prior four-week average. Total sales were on the very low end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 10.1 million and 24.8 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2023/24 marketing year are slightly behind last year’s pace so far, with 396.0 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments were 26% below the prior four-week average, with 9.8 million bushels. Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Chile and Nigeria were the top five destinations.

Click here for more highlights from the latest UDSA export sales report.