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Corn, soybean and wheat volume fail to impress last week

Ben Potter, Senior editor

May 11, 2023

2 Min Read
Ship loaded with corn for export
Getty Images

USDA’s new export sales report, out Thursday morning and covering the week through May 4, didn’t have much bullish data for traders to digest. Corn once again led the way but were still on the lower end of analyst estimates. Total wheat sales were solid, even though old crop sales faded to a marketing-year low. Soybean sales were dismal, falling below the entire range of trade guesses.

Corn exports saw combined old and new crop sales reach 13.4 million bushels last week. Old crop sales stayed 11% above the prior four-week average. However, it was still toward the lower end of analyst estimates, which ranged between net reduction of 3.9 million bushels and net sales of 43.3 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year remain substantially below last year’s pace, with 1.044 billion bushels.

Corn export shipments eased 8% below the prior four-week average, with 45.1 million bushels. Mexico was the No. 1 destination, with 15.3 million bushels. Japan, China, Colombia and South Korea rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export sales reached 1.9 million bushels last week, after increases for unknown destinations were partially offset by reductions in China. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are noticeably below last year’s pace so far, with 45.3 million bushels.

Soybean exports gathered just 4.1 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales last week. That was below the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 5.5 million and 25.7 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2022/23 marketing year are now slightly behind last year’s pace after reaching 1.745 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments slid 18% below the prior four-week average to 15.1 million bushels. Indonesia was the No. 1 destination, with 3.0 million bushels. Mexico, China, the Netherlands and Japan filled out the top five.

Wheat exports notched 13.2 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales last week. Old crop sales fell to a marketing-year low, but total sales were still near the middle of analyst estimates, which ranged between 6.4 million and 23.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are slightly below last year’s pace so far, with 613.1 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments faded 24% below the prior four-week average, with 7.5 million bushels. Mexico accounted for more than half of that total, with 4.4 million bushels. Japan, Ecuador, Honduras and Costa Rica rounded out the top five.

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

Read more about:

Exports

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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