US export sales see corn, soy beat expectations, wheat slumps
US export sales data for the week ending February 22 showed corn again steam past analysts’ expectations with soybeans coming in just ahead of estimates and wheat just under, data from the USDA revealed Thursday.
Corn – net sales 1,753,000 mt
Expectations had set a range of 1 million mt to 1.4 million mt for US corn exports, but the lure of relatively cheap corn saw export sales surge to 1.75 million mt, a rise of 13% versus the previous week, with evidence of the increasingly global interest in US corn showing through in the sales.
Japan took half a million mt, with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Honduras joining regulars Mexico and South Korea.
Actual exports hit a marketing year high, with 1.27 million mt moving double the volume seen in the previous week.
Mexico, Japan and South Korea secured almost three-quarters of a million mt between them, with no sign that the logistics issues affecting railway deliveries out to the Pacific Northwest and river transit to the US Gulf is slowing demand for US corn, which remains attractively priced versus other origins.
Soybeans – net sales 857,900 mt
Mexico surpassed China as it secured 334,500 mt of US soybean export sales to help push net sales beyond analysts’ estimates.
The trade had put a ceiling of 700,000 mt on soybeans, but concerns over the quality and size of South American bean crops has tipped the balance back in favour of the US farmer.
Actual exports came in at 902,000 mt, with China securing over half of the total volume, followed by Egypt and South Korea.
Wheat – net sales 191,100 mt
Net export sales for wheat fell by 42% week-on-week, with Mexico taking 84,900 mt of the 191,100 mt sold.
Actual exports were also down, slipping 21% on the previous week to come in at 330,700 mt, according to the data.
Iraq took the largest parcel at 50,000 mt with the five biggest buyers securing 132,000 mt in total – suggesting a multitude of small parcel purchases across a number of nations combined to form the balance.