USDA’s latest set of grain export inspection data, out Monday morning and covering the week through April 22, held mostly steady data for traders to digest. Corn once again led the way and bested the entire set of trade guesses, moving moderately above the prior week’s tally in the process. Soybeans eased slightly lower week-over-week but stayed near the higher end of analyst estimates. Wheat volume was a bit toward the lower end of trade guesses after stumbling moderately below the prior week’s tally.

Corn export inspections improved to 63.9 million bushels last week. That was above the entire range of analyst estimates, which came in between 33.5 million and 59.1 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are still trending moderately above last year’s pace after reaching 1.194 billion bushels.

Mexico was by far the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 24.6 million bushels. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Colombia rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections more than doubled the prior week’s volume after reaching 7.2 million bushels. China accounted for the majority of that total, with Somalia picking up a remainder of around 22%. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are still noticeably higher than last year’s pace so far, with 172.1 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections eased slightly lower week-over-week to 16.0 million bushels. Still, that was on the higher end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 11.0 million and 18.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are still running moderately below last year’s pace so far, with 1.414 billion bushels.

China was the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 8.0 million bushels. Mexico, Indonesia, China and Colombia filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections stumbled moderately below the prior week’s volume to 16.5 million bushels. That was also a bit toward the lower end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 11.0 million and 23.9 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are around 8.1% below last year’s pace so far after reaching 604.1 million bushels.

Japan was the No. 1 destination for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 3.4 million bushels. The Philippines, Mexico, China and the Dominican Republic rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights from the latest USDA grain export inspection report, which covers the week through April 22.