Posted on April, 3, 2023 at 11:01 pm
As it typically does, USDA’s new grain export inspection report, out Monday morning and covering the week through March 30, held a mixed bag of numbers for traders to digest. Corn fared the best, jumping well above the prior week’s pace and moving toward the higher end of analyst estimates. But soybeans spilled moderately lower, in contrast, while wheat failed to match even the lowest of trade estimates last week.
Corn export inspections made it to 43.2 million bushels, which was a week-over-week improvement of 59%. It was also on the higher end of trade estimates, which ranged between 27.6 million and 47.2 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are still trending significantly below last year’s pace, with 762.5 million bushels.
Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn export inspections last week, with 15.3 million bushels. South Korea, Japan, Colombia and Saudi Arabia rounded out the top five.
Sorghum export inspections were extremely tepid last week, with only 390,000 bushels. That grain is bound for South Africa, China and Mexico. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are less than one-fourth of last year’s pace so far, with 43.4 million bushels.
Soybean export inspections were relatively disappointing last week, with 18.3 million bushels. That was 44% below the prior week’s tally, and it was also toward the lower end of trade estimates, which ranged between 11.0 million and 34.9 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are still slightly above last year’s pace so far, with 1.670 billion bushels.
China was the No. 1 destination for U.S. soybean export inspections last week, with 10.9 million bushels. Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and Colombia filled out the top five.
Wheat export inspections were lackluster after only reaching 6.2 million bushels last week. It was also below the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 11.0 million and 16.5 million bushels. Cumulative totals for the 2022/23 marketing year are slightly below last year’s pace so far, with 619.5 million bushels.
The Philippines topped all destinations for U.S. wheat export inspections last week, with 2.4 million bushels. Ethiopia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Ecuador rounded out the top five.
Click here for more highlights from the latest USDA grain export inspection report, covering the week through March 30.
Source: Farm Progress