Soybean sales push above 1.2 MMT on strong buying by “unknown” and China

But exports of the oilseed hit a marketing-year low.

FILE PHOTO: Container ships and oil tankers wait in the ocean outside the Port of Long Beach-Port of Los Angeles complex, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
FILE PHOTO: Container ships and oil tankers wait in the ocean outside the Port of Long Beach-Port of Los Angeles complex, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

But exports of the oilseed hit a marketing-year low. Old-crop corn sales topped expectations, helping to push the overall tally near 1 MMT. Wheat sales were near the lower end of expectations, but exports hit a new high for the marketing year. Cotton sales were solid for the new marketing year that started Aug. 1, with China as the lead buyer. Pork export sales slowed notably the week ending Aug. 5, with beef export sales also edging lower.

USDA also noted there were several “late-reported” sales to several destinations for the week. Late reporting happens, USDA said, “1) Whenever an exporter discovers an error or is advised by the Export Sales Reporting office of an error on a prior report, the error shall be corrected in the current weekly export sales report to reflect the proper outstanding export sales and exports; and 2) When new exporters register, their first submission to the Export Sales Reporting and Maintenance System includes all export sales and exports in the current marketing year for the specific commodity.”

USDA Weekly Export Sales Report

Week Ended Aug. 5, 2021

Corn

Actual Sales (in MT)

Combined: 979,400
2020-21: 377,600
2021-22: 601,800

Expectations (in MT)

2020-21: -100,000-200,000
2021-22: 400,000-900,000

Weekly Sales Details

Net sales of 377,600 MT for 2020-21 were up noticeably from the previous week and from the prior four-week average. Increases primarily for Mexico (144,500 MT, including decreases of 38,500 MT), Japan (80,500 MT, including 81,700 MT switched from unknown destinations and decreases of 1,200 MT), Venezuela (59,200 MT, including 39,200 MT - late), Colombia (54,800 MT, including 21,000 MT switched from unknown destinations and 31,700 MT - late), and Canada (45,700 MT, including decreases of 8,900 MT), were offset by reductions primarily for unknown destinations (76,800 MT) and the Dominican Republic (7,500 MT). For 2021-22, net sales of 601,800 MT were primarily for unknown destinations (278,400 MT, including 20,400 MT - late), Colombia (80,500 MT), Costa Rica (60,800 MT), Mexico (52,200 MT), and Japan (45,000 MT).

Exports of 1,060,000 MT were down 25% from the previous week and 12% from the prior four-week average. The destinations were primarily to China (352,600 MT, including 71,500 MT - late), Mexico (337,300 MT, including 9,700 MT - late), Japan (80,500 MT), Saudi Arabia (57,900 MT), and Colombia (54,800 MT, including 31,700 MT - late).

Comments and Performance Indicators

Export commitments are 59% ahead of year-ago compared with 59% ahead last week. USDA projects exports in 2020-21 at 2.850 billion bu., up 60.4% from the previous marketing year.

Wheat

Actual Sales (in MT)

2021-22: 293,100

Expectations (in MT)

2021-22: 250,000-550,000

Weekly Sales Details

Net sales of 293,100 metric tons (MT) for 2021-22 were down 5% from the previous week and 32% from the prior four-week average. Increases primarily for unknown destinations (98,600 MT, including 82,600 MT - late), Japan (34,300 MT, including decreases of 700 MT and 500 MT - late), Nigeria (31,800 MT), Venezuela (27,100 MT – late), and Chile (21,500 MT), were offset by reductions primarily for the Dominican Republic (17,400 MT) and Guatemala (5,000 MT).

Weekly Export Details

Exports of 627,900 MT—a marketing-year high—were up 62% from the previous week and 60% from the prior four-week average. The destinations were primarily to Japan (130,400 MT, including 500 MT - late), Mexico (89,600 MT), Nigeria (82,300 MT), China (64,700 MT), and South Korea (62,800 MT).

Comments and Performance Indicators

Export commitments are 17% behind year-ago, compared with 17% behind last week. USDA projects exports in 2021-22 at 875 million bu., down 11.8% from the previous marketing year.

Soybeans

Actual Sales (in MT)

Combined: 1,217,200
2020-21: 96,900
2021-22: 1,120,300

Expectations (in MT)

2020-21: -100,000-100,000
2021-22: 500,000-900,000

Weekly Sales Details

Net sales of 96,900 MT for 2020-21 were up noticeably from the previous week and from the prior four-week average. Increases primarily for China (84,500 MT), Japan (18,600 MT, including 18,300 MT switched from unknown destinations and decreases of 1,300 MT), Colombia (15,300 MT, including 9,000 MT switched from unknown destinations and decreases of 7,000 MT), Indonesia (6,000 MT, including decreases of 1,500 MT), and Taiwan (4,500 MT, including decreases of 1,600 MT), were offset by reductions primarily for unknown destinations (30,000 MT). For 2021-22, net sales of 1,120,300 MT primarily for unknown destinations (643,400 MT, including 6,800 MT - late), China (328,000 MT), Taiwan (79,500 MT), Turkey (60,000 MT), and Portugal (15,000 MT), were offset by reductions for Japan (18,900 MT) and Colombia (13,000 MT).

Weekly Export Details

Exports of 129,700 MT--a marketing-year low--were down 40% from the previous week and 37% from the prior four-week average. The destinations were primarily to Mexico (39,000 MT), Canada (22,500 MT), Japan (21,300 MT), Indonesia (13,600 MT), and Saudi Arabia (9,900 MT).

Comments and Performance Indicators

Export commitments are 31% ahead of year-ago, compared with 32% ahead of year-ago last week. USDA projects exports in 2020-21 at 2.270 billion bu., up 35.2% from year-ago.

Soymeal

Actual Sales (in MT)

Combined: 384,600
2020-21: 116,300
2021-22: 268,300

Expectations

2020-21: 50,000-250,000
2021-22: 25,000-125,000

Weekly Sales Details

Net sales of 116,300 MT for 2020-21 were down 14% from the previous week, but up 29% from the prior four-week average. Increases primarily for Venezuela (20,600 MT, including 10,600 MT - late), Guyana (17,900 MT - late), Trinidad (13,000 MT, including 9,400 MT - late), Colombia (11,600 MT, including decreases of 11,600 MT), and the Philippines (9,900 MT), were offset by reductions primarily for Costa Rica (900 MT) and Ecuador (400 MT). For 2021-22, net sales of 268,300 MT were primarily for the Philippines (89,000 MT), Canada (79,900 MT), Colombia (75,000 MT), unknown destinations (11,800 MT), and Panama (6,300 MT).

Exports of 251,200 MT were up 33% from the previous week and 21% from the prior four-week average. The destinations were primarily to the Philippines (99,100 MT), the Dominican Republic (20,600 MT), Guyana (17,900 MT - late), Canada (17,500 MT), and Colombia (14,200 MT).

Comments and Performance Indicators

Export commitments are steady with year-ago vs. steady with year-ago the week prior. USDA projects exports in 2020-21 will climb 3.0% from the previous marketing year.

Soyoil

Actual Sales (in MT)

2020-21: 300

Expectations

2020-21: -10,000-10,000

Weekly Sales Details

Total net sales for 2020-21, of 300 MT were down 89% from the previous week and 73% from the prior four-week average. The destination was for Canada.

Weekly Export Details

Exports of 500 MT were down 86% from the previous week and 77% from the prior four-week average. The destination was to Canada.

Comments and Performance Indicators

Export commitments for 2020-21 are 46% behind year-ago compared with 46% behind last week. USDA projects exports will fall 37.4% this season.

Cotton

Actual Sales (in RB)

Combined: 358,000
2021-22: 342,700
2022-23: 15,300

Weekly Sales Details

Net sales for 2021-22, which began Aug. 1, totaled 342,700 RB. Increases primarily for China (123,800 RB), Turkey (72,500 RB), Bangladesh (39,400 RB, including decreases of 200 RB), Pakistan (39,100 RB, including decreases of 700 RB), and Vietnam (30,500 RB, including 300 RB switched from Japan and decreases of 2,300 RB), were offset by reductions for Taiwan (200 RB). For 2022-23, net sales of 15,300 MT were reported for Mexico (6,500 RB), Turkey (4,400 RB), and South Korea (4,400 RB).

A total of 1,310,900 RB in sales were carried over from the 2020-21 marketing year, which ended July 31.

Weekly Export Details

Exports for the period ending July 31 of 49,100 RB brought accumulated exports to 14,882,100 RB, up 5% from the prior years’ total of 14,174,500 RB. The destinations were primarily Mexico (10,900 RB), Pakistan (8,000 RB), Turkey (6,700 RB), Vietnam (6,400 RB), and Indonesia (5,900 RB).

Exports for Aug. 1-5 totaled 190,600 RB, with Pakistan (38,900 RB), Vietnam (36,500 RB), China (30,100 RB), Turkey (23,700 RB), and Mexico (14,000 RB) being the primary destinations.

Comments and Performance Indicators

Export commitments are 24% behind 2020-21 at the start of the marketing year. USDA forecasts total cotton exports will slip 7.3% from year-ago to 15.20 million bales in 2021-22.

Beef

Actual Sales (in MT)

2021: 13,600

Weekly Sales Details

Net sales of 13,600 MT reported for 2021 were down 9% from the previous week and 24% from the prior four-week average. Increases were primarily for Japan (6,000 MT, including decreases of 700 MT), South Korea (2,500 MT, including decreases of 800 MT), Mexico (1,900 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), China (1,000 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), and Taiwan (700 MT, including decreases of 100 MT).

Weekly Export Details

Exports of 18,600 MT were down 9% from the previous week and 3% from the prior four-week average. The destinations were primarily to South Korea (6,000 MT), Japan (4,400 MT), China (3,100 MT), Taiwan (1,500 MT), and Mexico (1,200 MT).

Comments and Performance Indicators

USDA reported sales totaling 15,100 MT last week. USDA projects 2021 exports will climb 16.0% from year-ago levels.

Pork

Actual Sales (in MT)

2021: 14,600

Weekly Sales Details

Net sales of 14,600 MT reported for 2021 were down 62% from the previous week and 48% from the prior four-week average. Increases primarily for Mexico (5,300 MT, including decreases of 700 MT), Japan (5,200 MT, including decreases of 1,400 MT), South Korea (2,000 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), China (600 MT, including decreases of 300 MT), and Canada (600 MT, including decreases of 500 MT), were offset by reductions for Australia (1,000 MT).

Weekly Export Details

Exports of 27,600 MT were down 3% from the previous week and from the prior four-week average. The destinations were primarily to Mexico (12,600 MT), China (5,200 MT), Japan (3,800 MT), Canada (1,700 MT), and South Korea (1,500 MT).

Comments and Performance Indicators

USDA reported net sales of 38,800 MT last week. USDA projects exports in 2021 will climb 3.7% from last year’s strong tally.