The latest set of grain export sales data from USDA, out Thursday morning and covering the week through January 18, held another mixed bag of numbers for traders to digest. Wheat sales faded 36% lower week-over-week but still turned in a relatively strong performance. Corn sales were also moderately below the prior week’s tally, and soybeans eroded below the entire range of analyst estimates.

Corn exports found 39.1 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales last week. Old crop sales were down 24% week-over-week but remained 14% above the prior four-week average. Total sales were toward the lower end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 28.5 million and 57.1 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are still trending moderately higher than last year’s pace so far after reaching 604.7 million bushels.

Corn export shipments eased 7% below the prior four-week average, with 36.7 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, China, Colombia and Panama were the top five destinations.

Sorghum exports stumbled 57% lower week-over-week to 2.4 million bushels. The entirety of that grain is bound for China. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are still well above last year’s pace so far after reaching 100.1 million bushels.

Soybean export sales only reached 20.6 million bushels, trending 74% lower week-over-week and eroding 54% below the prior four-week average. Analysts were expecting a bigger haul, offering trade guesses that ranged between 25.7 million and 45.9 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year remain moderately below last year’s pace, with 968.0 million bushels.

Soybean export shipments eased 3% below the prior four-week average, with 41.1 million bushels. China, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and Japan were the top five destinations.

Wheat exports found 18.8 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales last week. Old crop sales were down 36% week-over-week but still 45% better than the prior four-week average. Total sales were toward the higher end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 7.3 million and 25.7 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2023/24 marketing year are slightly below last year’s pace so far, with 386.2 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments were up 32% week-over-week but still 11% below the prior four-week average, with 11.9 million bushels. China, Mexico, Indonesia, Japan and the Dominican Republic were the top five destinations.

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