After a slow start for the 2017 crop, corn shipments are coming on like gangbusters. Export inspections last week hit 76.2 million bushels last week, a marketing year high and one of the best levels going back some 25 years.

While total inspections still lag last year’s year-to-date by 23%, shipments in the first half of the 2016 crop selling season were strong due to the short crop two years ago in Brazil. That opened the door for brisk movement over the summer and into the fall of 2016. 

Brazilian farmers were still selling their record crop from last year as 2017 corn from the U.S. piled up in storage. Soybeans are dominating the Brazilian shipping scene now, sending buyers back to the U.S.

Japan and Mexico were again the two biggest customers, taking 21.5 million and 15.2 million bushels respectively. Together the two countries account for 44% of U.S. corn commitments to date. Most of the other deals this week are headed elsewhere in Asia and the Americas, though some of the corn is also bound for Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Demand from ethanol plants is also good, though higher corn costs last week ate into profit margins at plants last week. Processors weakened corn bids as a result, though basis was strong in the export pipeline for corn.

Soybean prices held on to gains today despite weak inspections of only 13.7 million bushels. That total fell below trade expectations and the weekly rate needed to reach USDA’s forecast for the 2017 crop.  China took only 2.8 million bushels in the latest week, only 20% of the total, as threats of new tariffs heated up with trade war rhetoric.

Year-to-date commitments for China are down 19% from year-ago levels. China accounts for only 56% of total commitments so far in the marketing year, but other buyers are stepping forward. USDA announced another sale to unknown destinations this morning, this one for 8.5 million bushels, under the agency’s system for large purchases. 

Demand from processors is better, thanks to surging crush margins that neared four-year highs last week. Production in Argentina, the world’s largest soy product exporter, is down sharply, opening the door for U.S. exports.

Wheat inspections of 15.8 million bushels were down only slightly from the prior week’s levels. Still, the total was below the rate needed through May 31 to reach USDA’s forecast for the 2017 crop. Year-to-date inspections are down 9%, while the agency forecasts only a 6% slump for the entire marketing year. 

Inspections were noted for 19 countries, but none of them took more than 3 million bushels.