The latest batch of export sales from USDA offered good, bad and ugly data for traders to digest. Wheat sales were the most bullish – a welcome bit of news that turned prices back into the green on Thursday morning. But old crop corn sales faded 72% below the prior four-week average, and old crop soybean sales notched a new marketing-year after posting net reductions last week.

Old crop corn sales only reached 2.3 million bushels for the week ending July 7. New crop sales added another 13.7 million bushels, for a total of 16.0 million bushels. That was near the middle of analyst estimates, which ranged between zero and 27.6 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still moderately below the prior year’s pace, with 2.103 billion bushels.

Corn export shipments shifted 24% below the prior four-week average, with 36.1 million bushels. China, Japan, Mexico, Morocco and Canada were the top five destinations.

Sorghum export sales saw net reductions of around 100,000 bushels after increases for China were slightly offset by reductions to unknown destinations and Mexico. Cumulative sales for the 2021/22 marketing year are still trending slightly ahead of last year’s pace, with 256.0 million bushels.

Old crop soybean sales fell to a marketing-year low after coming in with net reductions of 13.3 million bushels. New crop sales only contributed 4.2 million bushels, for a negative balance of 9.1 million bushels. That was below the entire range of trade guesses, which were between -3.7 million and +18.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year remain moderately behind last year’s pace, with 1.931 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments tracked 16% lower than the prior four-week average, with 16.2 million bushels. China, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany and Egypt were the top five destinations.

Wheat export sales were unexpectedly robust, climbing to 37.4 million bushels last week. Another 1.1 million bushels were reported for delivery in 2023/24, bringing the total to 38.5 million bushels. That was well ahead of all trade guesses, which ranged between 7.3 million and 18.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are still slightly behind last year’s pace, with 63.1 million bushels since the beginning of June.

Wheat export shipments slipped 13% below the prior four-week average, to 9.9 million bushels. South Korea, Mexico, Guatemala, Taiwan and Peru were the top five destinations.

Click here for more results from USDA’s latest report, which covers July 1 through July 7.