For the second straight week, U.S. corn exports have hit a marketing-year low.
The U.S. Export Sales Report released Thursday morning showed bearish corn sales, while soybean exports came in neutral within the estimated range. Allendale commodities broker Greg McBride says the corn sales were disappointing.
?Export sales were weak again at 154,700 metric tons for corn,? McBride said. ?They were 533,400 tons for soybeans. Those corn sales were below the range for both old crop and new crop. For soybeans, they were inside the range. We?re not overly concerned about this. It is two weeks in a row with another marketing-year low for corn, but with everything we?ve booked so far, we still look pretty good. The biggest thing at this point for us is to make sure we get everything we?ve already sold shipped out.?
McBride notes South American supplies are slowly making their way on-line.
?They?ve had some issues with harvest in the northern portion of Brazil,? McBride said. ?They are about halfway to where they should be at this point for soybean harvest. That continues to give us an idea that we could see some sales coming in. But this time of the year soybean sales have generally slacked off pretty well. Corn sales at this time of the year are usually fairly good because the Argentina and Brazil crop is not ready yet, but these last two weeks have been a disappointment.?
Allendale?s Rich Nelson reports last week?s corn exports were 58 percent under the five-year average and that this week?s sale was 89 percent below the five-year average. The next U.S. Export Sales Report will be released on Thursday, March 11th.
