Farm Futures logo

Wheat also tracks higher, while soybeans face moderate week-over-week declines.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

March 15, 2021

2 Min Read
kurmyshov/ThinkstockPhotos

USDA’s latest batch of grain export inspection report, out Monday morning and covering the week through March 11, held mixed but mostly positive data for traders to digest. Analysts were expecting a big week for corn export inspections, but actual numbers surpassed the entire range of trade guesses. Wheat also moved moderately higher week-over-week, but soybeans faced a moderate decline from a week ago.

Corn export inspections climbed 32% above last week’s tally to reach 86.8 million bushels. That was also above the entire range of trade guesses, which fell between 47.2 million and 74.8 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year added to its already sizeable lead over last year’s pace, reaching 1.179 billion bushels.

Japan emerged as the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 20.3 million bushels. Mexico, China, Colombia and South Korea rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections tilted modestly higher week-over-week, reaching 9.2 million bushels. The entirety of that grain is bound for China, which has been by far the dominant buyer in recent months. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year remain far ahead of last year’s pace, with 157.8 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections were relatively disappointing last week, sliding 13% lower week-over-week to land at 19.1 million bushels. That was still in the middle of trade guesses, however, which ranged between 12.9 million and 23.9 million bushels. And cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year still have a commanding lead over last year’s pace after reaching 1.915 billion bushels.

China was again the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections, accounting for another 5.9 million bushels. Egypt, Bangladesh, Mexico and Indonesia filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections saw week-over-week improvements of 41%, climbing to 25.1 million bushels. That also bested the entire set of trade guesses, which ranged between 11.0 million and 18.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2020/21 marketing year closed the gap a bit from last year’s total but still remain slightly behind that tally, with 708.3 million bushels.

The Philippines was by far the No. 1 destination for U.S. export inspections last week, with more than 6.5 million bushels. South Korea, China, Bangladesh and the Dominican Republic rounded out the top five.

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

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like