USDA’s latest set of grain export data, out Thursday morning and covering the week through May 9, didn’t hold a lot of bullish data for traders to digest. Corn sales led the way again last week but stayed toward the lower end of analyst estimates. Old crop wheat sales jumped noticeably higher week-over-week, while total sales were also toward the lower end of trade guesses. Old crop soybean sales slumped 31% below the prior four-week average.

Corn exports found 34.3 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales last week. Old crop sales slid 17% lower week-over-week, and total sales were toward the lower end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 27.6 million and 47.2 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2023/24 marketing year are still trending moderately higher than last year’s pace, with 1.394 billion bushels.

Corn export shipments shifted 35% below the prior four-week average, with 37.5 million bushels. Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Costa Rica were the top five destinations.

Sorghum sales stumbled 81% lower week-over-week after only reaching 468,000 bushels. China was the lone destination. Cumulative sales for the 2023/24 marketing year are still substantially above last year’s pace, with 182.2 million bushels.

Soybean exports only reached 10.7 million bushels last week. Old crop sales trended 31% below the prior four-week average, and total sales were below the entire set of analyst estimates, which ranged between 11.0 million and 23.9 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2023/24 marketing year are still moderately below last year’s pace after reaching 1.438 billion bushels.

Soybean export shipments improved 46% week-over-week to 16.3 million bushels. Egypt, China, Indonesia, Mexico and Colombia were the top five destinations.

Wheat exports reached 13.5 million bushels in combined old and new crop sales last week. Old crop sales jumped 91% higher week-over-week, while total sales remained slightly toward the lower end of analyst estimates, which ranged between 10.1 million and 18.4 million bushels. Cumulative sales for the 2023/24 marketing year are still trending slightly above last year’s pace, with 643.8 million bushels.

Wheat export shipments eased 6% below the prior four-week average, with 16.5 million bushels. China, Mexico, South Korea, Japan and Peru were the top five destinations.

Click here for more highlights from the latest UDSA export sales report.