USDA released its latest batch of grain export inspection data Monday morning, covering the week through August 5. There weren’t a lot of bullish numbers for traders to digest, although wheat was definitely a bright spot, moving almost 50% higher from a week ago and exceeding the entire range of trade guesses. Corn and soybean volumes were relatively disappointing, in contrast, stumbling lower compared to last week and failing to match analyst estimates.

Corn export inspections only saw about half of the prior week’s total, tumbling to 26.3 million bushels. That was below the entire range of analyst estimates, which came in between 35.4 million and 49.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year remain far ahead of last year’s pace, meantime, with 2.501 billion bushels.

Mexico was by far the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 12.3 million bushels. China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Colombia rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections improved to 3.0 million bushels last week, moving ahead of the prior week’s tally of 2.2 million bushels. Nearly all of that grain is bound for China, with Mexico and Madagascar picking up the small remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year are still very favorable compared to last year’s pace, reaching 269.4 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections were lackluster last week, gathering just 4.2 million bushels and falling 38% below the prior week’s volume of 6.8 million bushels. It was also on the low end of trade estimates that ranged between 3.7 million and 11.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year still hold a commanding lead over last year’s pace, with 2.145 billion bushels.

Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 1.4 million bushels. Japan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Colombia filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections exceeded expectations last week, jumping to 22.3 million bushels. That was better than the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 12.9 million and 19.3 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year remain moderately behind last year’s pace for the time being, with 161.6 million bushels.

Japan topped all destinations for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 4.8 million bushels. Mexico, the Philippines, China and Nigeria rounded out the top five.

Click here to read more highlights from the latest USDA grain export inspection report.