USDA’s latest export sales report, out Thursday morning and covering the week through May 8, held largely bullish data for trader to digest. Of particular note, corn sales continued to dominate, climbing above the entire range of analyst estimates. Soybean and wheat sales also posted relatively solid results last week.
Old crop corn sales faded 16% lower week-over-week, but total sales were still impressive after reaching 88.1 million bushels. Total sales were above the entire set of trade guesses, which ranged between 49.2 million and 82.7 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2024/25 marketing year remain well ahead of the prior year’s pace after reaching 1.772 billion bushels.
Corn export shipments shifted 20% below the prior four-week average after reaching 55.6 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Guatemala and Israel were the top five destinations.
Sorghum export sales jumped 64% higher week-over-week after reaching 2.1 million bushels. That grain is bound for Spain and Japan. Cumulative sales for the 2024/25 marketing year are still less than a third of last year’s pace, with 51.3 million bushels.
Soybean exports gathered 28.4 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales last week. Old crop sales eroded 28% below the prior four-week average, while total sales were near the middle of analyst estimates, which ranged between 20.2 million and 36.7 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2024/25 marketing year are still trending moderately ahead of last year’s pace, with 1.613 billion bushels.
Soybean export shipments jumped 66% higher week-over-week but were still 14% below the prior four-week average, with 15.8 million bushels. Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan and Costa Rica were the top five destinations.
Wheat exports found 15.8 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales last week. Old crop sales were noticeably above the prior four-week average, and total sales were near the middle of analyst estimates, which ranged between 5.5 million and 25.7 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 204/25 marketing year remain moderately ahead of last year’s pace, with 713.9 million bushels.
Wheat export shipments were 24% below the prior four-week average, with 13.6 million bushels. The Philippines, South Korea, Mexico, Thailand and Japan were the top five destinations.
Click here for more highlights and data from the latest USDA export sales report.