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Corn, soybeans and wheat all post lackluster results last week

Ben Potter, Senior editor

February 9, 2023

2 Min Read
Cargo ship at sea
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The latest set of grain export data from USDA, out Thursday morning and covering the week through February 2, held mostly pedestrian results for traders to digest. Corn volume faded 27% lower week-over-week but managed to stay on the higher end of trade estimates. Soybean sales also trended moderately lower from week-ago results, while wheat volume was largely disappointing.

Corn exports reached 46.1 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales. Old crop sales were down 27% from the prior week but 19% above the prior four-week average. That was toward the higher end of trade estimates, which ranged between 23.6 million and 59.1 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year remain significantly below last year’s pace, with 512.0 million bushels.

Corn export shipments were 40% below the prior four-week average, with 15.6 million bushels. Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, Hong Kong and Nicaragua were the top five destinations.

Sorghum export sales fell 43% below the prior four-week average to 1.9 million bushels. China accounted for the entirety of that total. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are far below last year’s pace, with just 11.6 million bushels.

Soybean exports reached 17.6 million bushels in old and new crop sales last week. Old crop sales eroded 49% below the prior four-week average. It was also on the very low end of trade estimates, which ranged between 14.7 million and 51.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are fractionally below last year’s pace, with 1.375 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments were more robust, easing 3% below the prior four-week average to 67.2 million bushels. China, Mexico, Spain, the Netherlands and Indonesia were the top five destinations.

Wheat exports only reached 5.5 million bushels in total old and new crop sales last week. That was on the very low end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 4.6 million and 23.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are tracking slightly behind last year’s pace so far, with 457.9 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments were solid, jumping 70% above the prior four-week average to 19.8 million bushels. The Philippines, Mexico, South Korea, Iraq and Ecuador were the top five destinations.

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

About the Author(s)

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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