US corn, wheat export sales rise; soybean below estimates

Grains and oilseeds market update

US corn sales for the 2024-25 season were reported at 1.65 million tonnes in the week to February 6, up by 12% from the previous week and by 20% from the prior four-week average, landing within the USDA’s expected range of 800,000-1.7 million tonnes, USDA data showed on Thursday, February 13.

Much of the increase came from Japan (459,400 tonnes), South Korea (325,400 tonnes), Mexico (262,600 tonnes), Colombia (250,900 tonnes) and Taiwan (70,000 tonnes).

These gains were partly offset by reductions for unknown destinations (87,600 tonnes), Panama (18,600 tonnes) and Canada (9,000 tonnes).

The accumulated export commitments reached 74.6% of the USDA forecast.

Export sales for the 2025/26 crop season totalled 350,100 tonnes for Mexico (330,000 tonnes), Honduras (14,000 tonnes) and unknown destinations (6,100 tonnes).

Exports of 1.35 million tonnes were unchanged from the previous week, but down 5% from the four-week average.

The primary destinations for US corn exports were Mexico (299,400 tonnes), Japan (231,200 tonnes), South Korea (188,600 tonnes), Colombia (185,800 tonnes) and Vietnam (73,100 tonnes).

Soybean exports

US soybean sales for 2024/25 were reported at 185,500 tonnes in the week to February 6, down by 52% from the previous week and by 74% from the prior four-week average, landing below the USDA’s expected range of 300,000-800,000 tonnes.

Much of the increase came from China (222,000 tonnes), Egypt (205,200 tonnes), the Netherlands (68,700 tonnes), Japan (50,000 tonnes) and South Korea (48,200 tonnes).

These gains were partly offset by reductions for unknown destinations (365,200 tonnes), Spain (66,000 tonnes), Algeria (45,000 tonnes) and Italy (2,800 tonnes).

Accumulated export commitments stood at 87.1% of the USDA’s projections.

Export sales for the 2025/26 crop season totalled 24,300 tonnes for Japan.

Exports of 1.10 million tonnes were down by 8% from the previous week but up by 1% from the prior four-week average.

The primary destinations for US soybean exports were China (552,100 tonnes), Egypt (155,000 tonnes), Mexico (80,800 tonnes), the Netherlands (68,700 tonnes) and Japan (54,500 tonnes).

Soybean meal exports

US soybean meal sales for 2024/25 were reported at 336,700 tonnes in the week to February 6, down by 37% from the previous week but up by 4% from the prior four-week average, and within the USDA’s expected range of 200,000-600,000 tonnes.

Much of the increase came from Colombia (87,300 tonnes), unknown destinations (58,000 tonnes), Bangladesh (48,000 tonnes), the Dominican Republic (39,500 tonnes) and Venezuela (30,000 tonnes).

These gains were partly offset by reductions for Panama (8,400 tonnes) and Indonesia (300 tonnes).

Accumulated export commitments stood at 63.8% of the USDA’s projections.

Exports of 267,500 tonnes were down by 43% from the previous week and by 7% from the prior four-week average

The primary destinations for US soybean meal exports were Mexico (73,200 tonnes), Colombia (39,100 tonnes), Honduras (32,900 tonnes), Guatemala (30,900 tonnes) and Canada (27,000 tonnes).

Soybean oil exports

US soybean oil sales fell to a marketing-year low of 2,800 tonnes for 2024/2025, down noticeably from the previous week and from the prior four-week average, landing within the USDA’s expected range of 0-25,000 tonnes, USDA data showed on Thursday.

Increases were reported for Mexico (3,500 tonnes), the Dominican Republic (1,700 tonnes), Guatemala (1,500 tonnes), Colombia (400 tonnes) and Nicaragua (200 tonnes).

These gains were partly offset by reductions for India (9,700 tonnes) and Venezuela (500 tonnes).

The accumulated export commitments reached 92% of the USDA forecast.

Exports of 38,400 tonnes were down by 20% from the previous week and from the prior four-week average.

The primary destinations for US soybean oil exports were India (23,300 tonnes), Colombia (10,000 tonnes), Mexico (3,500 tonnes) and Canada (1,600 tonnes).

Wheat exports

US wheat sales for 2024/25 were reported at 569,600 tonnes in the week to February 6, up by 30% from the previous week and by 45% from the prior four-week average, landing within the USDA’s expected range of 200,000-600,000 tonnes.

Increases were registered primarily for Mexico (127,600 tonnes), South Korea (84,400 tonnes), the Philippines (79,100 tonnes), Thailand (56,000 tonnes) and Japan (46,400 tonnes).

These gains were partly offset by reductions for Panama (3,000 tonnes) and Spain (500 tonnes).

The accumulated export commitments reached 82.8% of the USDA forecast.

Export sales for the 2025/26 crop season totalled 36,800 tonnes for Japan (25,000 tonnes), Mexico (10,000 tonnes) and Colombia (1,800 tonnes).

Exports of 577,300 tonnes were up noticeably from the previous week and up by 85% from the prior four-week average.

The primary destinations for US wheat exports were the Philippines (186,600 tonnes), Mexico (95,400 tonnes), the Dominican Republic (67,300 tonnes), Japan (62,300 tonnes) and Nigeria (36,500 tonnes).

Most grain prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange rose on Thursday. The March CME soybean futures contract jumped by 2.25 cents per bushel, settling at $10.30 per bu, but March soybean meal decreased by $1.40 per short ton to $292.70 per ton.

Meanwhile, March wheat increased by 3.50 cents per bu to $5.77 per bu, and March corn rose by 3.25 cents per bu to $4.93 per bu.

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