USDA’s newest batch of grain export inspection data, out Monday morning and covering the week through February 3, held few surprises for traders to digest and did little to alter today’s trajectory of grain prices immediately following the report. Corn and wheat volume moved modestly higher from a week ago, with soybeans trending moderately lower.

Corn export inspections totaled 41.5 million bushels last week, moving incrementally above the prior week’s volume. The latest tally was toward the lower end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 38.4 million and 51.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still trending moderately behind last year’s pace, with 732.1 million bushels.

Japan was the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 11.8 million bushels. Mexico, China, Colombia and Saudi Arabia rounded out the top five.

Sorghum export inspections moved moderately higher from the prior week, reaching 6.1 million bushels. China accounted for most of the total, with Eritrea, Mexico and South Korea picking up the remainder. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still moderately trailing last year’s pace after reaching 95.8 million bushels.

Soybean export inspections faced a moderate week-over-week decline, dropping to 44.8 million bushels. That was on the lower end of trade estimates, which ranged between 36.7 million and 68.0 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year are still well below last year’s pace, with 1.383 billion bushels.

China was once again by far the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections, accounting for another 28.1 million bushels last week. Egypt, Japan, Mexico and Bangladesh filled out the top five.

Wheat export inspections tracked modestly higher from a week ago, reaching 15.3 million bushels. That was also on the higher end of trade guesses, which ranged between 9.2 million and 16.5 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2021/22 marketing year remain moderately behind last year’s pace, with 515.3 million bushels.

South Korea topped all destinations for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 3.5 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Ethiopia and El Salvador rounded out the top five.

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