USDA’s latest set of grain export inspection data, out Monday morning and covering the week through August 8, held another mixed bag of data for traders to digest. Wheat volume was pleasantly surprising after rising moderately higher week-over-week and moving above the entire range of analyst estimates. Soybean volume also improved from a week ago, while corn faded moderately lower.

Corn export inspections trended 23% below the prior week’s volume with 38.4 million bushels. That was also on the lower end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 31.5 million and 51.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are still noticeably above last year’s pace after reaching1.926 billion bushels.

Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections, with 15.5 million bushels. Japan, Colombia, Costa Rica and Venezuela rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections eroded significantly below the prior week’s tally after reaching 2.3 million bushels. That grain is largely bound for China, with Japan accounting for the meager remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are still more than doubling last year’s pace so far, with 223.8 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections improved to 12.0 million bushels last week. That was near the middle of analyst estimates, which ranged between 9.2 million and 14.7 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2023/24 marketing year are still trending moderately below last year’s pace so far after reaching 1.593 billion bushels.

Germany was the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections, with 3.1 million bushels. China, Lebanon, Mexico and Costa Rica filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections jumped to 23.9 million bushels last week, which was 38% above the prior week’s volume. That was also above the entire set of trade guesses, which ranged between 11.0 million and 19.3 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2024/25 marketing year are tracking moderately ahead of last year’s pace so far, with 155.0 million bushels.

Brazil topped all destinations for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 3.7 million bushels. The Philippines, Japan, Italy and China rounded out the top five.

Click here for more highlights from the latest USDA grain export inspection report, which covers the week through August 8.