USDA’s new set of grain export inspection data, out Monday morning and covering the week through May 18, showed mixed but mostly positive data for traders to digest. Corn volume led the way again last week, making modest week-over-week improvements in the process. Wheat volume was also up from the prior week’s tally and moved above the entire range of analyst estimates. Soybeans failed to follow suit, sliding modestly lower week-over-week and staying near the low end of trade guesses.

Corn export inspections reached 52.1 million bushels last week. That was on the high end of trade estimates, which ranged between 27.6 million and 56.1 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are still well below last year’s pace, however, after reaching 1.078 billion bushels.

Japan was the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 19.9 million bushels. China, Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections more than doubled the prior week’s tally after reaching 4.6 million bushels. That grain is largely bound for China, with Mexico picking up the modest remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are still far below last year’s pace so far after reaching 64.4 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections were relatively disappointing last week after only reaching 5.7 million bushels. That was on the low end of trade estimates, which ranged between 3.7 million and 18.4 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are trending modestly below last year’s pace so far, with 1.771 billion bushels.

Japan was the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 2.1 million bushels. Mexico, Colombia, Indonesia and China filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections improved to 15.0 million bushels last week. That was better than the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 3.7 million and 12.9 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are trending slightly below last year’s pace, with 703.4 million bushels.

Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 3.2 million bushels. China, the Philippines, Nigeria and Japan rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights from the latest USDA grain export inspection report, covering the week through May 18.