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Export Report: Grains bounce backExport Report: Grains bounce back

Corn, soybean and wheat volume all track noticeably higher week-over-week.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

January 16, 2025

2 Min Read
Export ship getting loaded with corn
Getty Images/Orlando Kissner

USDA’s latest export sales report, out Thursday morning and covering the week through January 9, held mostly bullish data for traders to digest. Of particular note, corn and wheat volumes jumped higher than the entire set of analyst estimates. Soybean volume was less impressive but was still noticeably above the prior week’s tally.

Corn export sales outpaced expectations after reaching 40.3 million bushels last week. That was noticeably higher than the prior week’s volume and also above the entire set of analyst estimates, which ranged between 19.7 million and 39.4 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2024/25 marketing year remain moderately above the prior year’s pace after reaching 712.4 million bushels.

Corn export shipments climbed to a marketing-year high of 58.4 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Spain, Colombia and Taiwan were the top five destinations.

No sorghum sales were reported last week, and sorghum export shipments were down 90% from the prior four-week average, with just 165,000 bushels.

Soybean export sales were significantly higher week-over-week but still 27% below the prior four-week average, with 20.9 million bushels. That was near the middle of analyst estimates, which ranged between 11.0 million and 33.1 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2024/25 marketing year are still moderately ahead of last year’s pace after reaching 1.153 billion bushels.

Related:Export Report: Corn stands strong, while soybeans underperform

Soybean export shipments inched 2% lower week-over-week to 54.2 million bushels. China, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Indonesia and Spain were the top five destinations.

Wheat exports climbed 55% above the prior four-week average, with 19.2 million bushels. That was also better than the entire set of analyst estimates, which ranged between 5.5 million and 14.7 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2024/25 marketing year continue to trend above last year’s pace after reaching 461.5 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments stumbled 50% below the prior four-week average, with 7.2 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Nigeria, Italy and the Philippines were the top five destinations.

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

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Exports

About the Author

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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