Export inspections see corn fall short, as USDA defies shutdown

USDA export sales inspections have delivered a fresh blow to the corn market reporting a less than expected volume, while wheat and soy were in line with expectations, data released Monday shows.

With the US government now in shutdown as of Friday midnight, the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service that publishes the export inspections report has an exemption that provides mandatory funding to facilitate key services. 

Corn, which saw stellar export sales revealed on Friday, saw expectations tamed as 668,946 mt had been inspected for export in the week ending January 18, higher week-on-week, but well outside a range that had been looking for between 800,000 mt and 1.15 million mt.

The figure was also some 320,000 mt below corn export inspections in the same week of 2017.

Wheat expectations fared better, with the 337,980 mt inspected smack in the middle of the range of 250,000 mt to 400,000 mt, according to analysts; down by a marginal 30,000 mt on the previous week but some 60,000 mt higher than at the same point of 2017.

Soybeans saw another strong showing, just pushing through the ceiling of analysts’ expectations, which had been set at 1.4 million mt, to post 1.42 million mt inspections.

US soybean export inspections surpassed both the previous week’s volume, and the volume seen in same period of 2017, by around 100,000 mt, but across all grain classes, US inspections on the current marketing year-to-date lag well behind figures for the same period.

Wheat, at 15.47 million mt, is closest to last year’s figures, which were 16.47 million mt.

Soybeans are some 5 million mt adrift at 32.27 million mt, while corn export inspections are around two-thirds of those seen at this stage of the previous marketing year – 7.2 million mt behind at 12.68 million mt.

Recipients of US grains remained largely as expected, with China the intended destination for the vast majority of soybean exports, including all exports from the Pacific Northwest. 

For corn, Colombia and Peru will take the bulk of US Gulf exports, with Japan taking the bulk of the PNW.

By far the biggest buyer of US wheat was the Philippines on 109,515 mt with South Korea following at 69,464 mt.