The latest set of grain export inspection data from USDA, out Monday morning and covering the week through May 11, held another mixed bag of numbers for traders to digest. Corn led the way with another strong showing, improving from the prior week and climbing to the high end of analyst estimates. Wheat volume also moved higher week-over-week. Soybeans were relatively disappointing, meantime, coming in at less than half of the prior week’s tally and fading below the entire range of trade guesses.

Corn export inspections came in at 46.2 million bushels last week, firming moderately above the prior week’s total of 38.4 million bushels. It was also on the higher end of trade estimates, which ranged between 27.6 million and 47.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are still significantly behind last year’s pace so far, however, with 1.026 billion bushels.

China was the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 18.6 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Colombia and El Salvador rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections made modest week-over-week improvements to reach 2.1 million bushels. That grain is largely bound for China, with Mexico picking up the modest remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are only tracking around one-fourth of last year’s pace, with 59.8 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections were tepid last week, reaching just 5.4 million bushels. That was below the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 5.5 million and 18.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are slightly below last year’s pace so far, with 1.764 billion bushels.

Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 2.1 million bushels. Indonesia, the Philippines, Venezuela and Morocco filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections found modest week-over-week improvements after reaching 8.9 million bushels. That was near the middle of trade estimates, which ranged between 4.6 million and 12.9 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are slightly lower than last year’s pace, with 687.6 million bushels.

Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. wheat export inspections last week with 1.8 million bushels, narrowly besting Japan and the Philippines. Algeria and Nigeria rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights from the latest USDA grain export inspection report, covering the week through May 11.