Export Sales of U.S. Soybeans Exceed Analyst Expectations

The latest report from the Department of Agriculture reveals that export sales of U.S. soybeans for the week ending Aug. 17 have surpassed analysts' highest projections. A total of 1.58 million metric tons of soybeans were sold for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 marketing years, exceeding the forecasted range of 800,000 to 1.3 million tons.

While corn and wheat sales remained within analyst expectations, reaching 650,800 tons and 406,000 tons respectively across both marketing years, a net reduction of 22,700 tons for the 2022/23 year was noted in corn sales due to cancellations by Colombia, El Salvador, and other undisclosed destinations.

In terms of buyers, the leading purchaser of U.S. soybeans during this period was classified as "unknown destinations," whereas Mexico took the lead as the buyer of corn, and Chile emerged as the leading buyer of wheat. It is worth noting that traders typically assume that China is the final destination whenever the USDA reports "unknown destinations."

As for grain futures trading on the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade), there is a mixed premarket scenario with corn experiencing a 0.9% decrease, soybeans displaying a 0.2% increase, and wheat declining by 0.6%.

To access related data on U.S. Export Sales, you can search for "U.S. Export Sales: Weekly Sales Totals" in Dow Jones NewsPlus.