US export sales underwhelm as grains at lower end of expectations

Corn topped the delayed US sales export data release, with 1.47 million mt reported in the week ending March 15, with soybean reporting 759,000 mt and wheat at 265,200 mt, according to USDA data.

In all cases, the volumes were towards the lower end of analysts’ expectations and for corn and soybean were a significant drop on the previous week’s data.

For corn, expectations for net sales encompassed a range of 1.4 million to 2.1 million, with the 1.47 million down 41% on the previous week.

Chief amongst the buyers was South Korea, taking just under half a million mt, with Japan securing 263,100 mt and China posting a 98,800 mt move.

Actual exports remained robust, with 1.37 million mt moving, down 2% on the week before, with Japan, South Korea and Mexico the three largest recipients.

For soybeans, net export sales reached 759,000 mt – a fall of 40% on the previous week, and just above the floor of analysts’ expectations, which had anticipated between 700,000 and 1.4 million mt.

For exports, the 548,700 mt was the lowest in the marketing year, and down 39% week-on-week.

China remained the most substantial buyer in both exports and export sales, taking 130,900 mt and 324,800 mt respectively.

Wheat at least saw a pick up in export sales week-on-week, with the 265,200 mt listed an increase of 63%, while exports rose 41% to 472,800 mt.

That compared with an expectation of between 100,000 mt and 300,000 mt, according to analysts.