USDA Reports Drop in Export Sales During Holiday Week
Total corn sales commitments for 2023-24 are up 37% from a year ago; soybean sales commitments down 16%; wheat sales commitments are down 2%.
OMAHA (DTN) — USDA’s Weekly Export Sales and Shipments report, released Friday due to Monday’s holiday, listed net sales of 14.5 million bushels (mb) of corn, 7.4 mb of soybeans, and 5.0 mb of wheat. Corn and soybean sales are for 2023/2024 delivery. Wheat sales are for delivery in 2023/2024 and 2024/2025.
For the week ended Dec. 28, 2023, USDA reported an increase of 14.5 mb (367,500 mt) of corn export sales in 2023-24. Last week’s export shipments of 26.8 mb were below the 45.5 mb needed each week to achieve USDA’s export estimate of 2.100 billion bushels (bb) in 2023-24. Corn sales commitments now total 1.173 bb in 2023-24 and are up 37% from a year ago. That is above USDA’s estimated pace at a time when USDA’s estimate of U.S. ending corn stocks is the highest in five years.
For the week ended Dec. 28, USDA reported an increase of 7.4 mb (201,600 mt) of soybean export sales in 2023-24. Last week’s export shipments of 36.8 mb were above the 26.4 mb needed each week to achieve USDA’s export estimate of 1.755 bb in 2023-24. Soybean sales commitments now total 1.343 bb in 2023-24 and are down 16% from a year ago. That is below USDA’s estimated pace at a time when USDA’s estimate of U.S. ending soybean stocks is the lowest in eight years.
For the week ended Dec. 28, USDA reported an increase of 4.8 mb (131,600 mt) of wheat export sales for 2023-24 and an increase of 0.2 mb (4,300 mt) for 2024-25. Last week’s export shipments of 10.5 mb were below the 17.0 mb needed each week to achieve USDA’s export estimate of 725 mb in 2023-24. Wheat export commitments now total 561 mb in 2023-24 and are down 2% from a year ago. That is a little above USDA’s estimated pace at a time when USDA’s estimate of U.S. ending wheat stocks is the second lowest in 10 years.