Del.icio.us  Digg  facebook  MySpace  Twitter  Google  Bookmark Me  LinkedIn  StumbleUpon  Permalink

Export Sales Slump

Despite a weak dollar that gives foreign buyers more purchasing power, end users aren’t rushing to load up on U.S. crops, according to the latest export figures released today by USDA.

Sales of corn, soybeans and wheat were all below trade estimates, with shipments also running behind rates needed to meet the government’s current forecasts.

Wheat sales of 15.4 million bushels came the closest to reaching pre-report estimates, but still fell short.
Bookings aren’t the big problem, however – shipments are. They remain sluggish. Though the total for the week was a decent 30.4 million bushels, 44.3 were needed to keep falling behind even further on a year-to-date basis. Customers continue to take either single loads or sizes fitting smaller vessels.

Some pickup in business was noted this week, with both Iraq and Saudi Arabia buying U.S. origination. But those deals won’t show up until next week.

Net sales of corn dropped by almost 50% in the latest week, with Japan the only significant buyer. Shipments of 35.7 million bushels were also slower than needed to reach USDA’s marketing year forecast; about 45 million bushels are needed to be shipped weekly for the rest of the marketing year.

Soybean sales, meanwhile, continue to falter under the weight of tight U.S. stocks and the advancing harvest in South America. Total sales were just 7.3 million bushels, split about two-to-one between old and new crop. Shipments of just under 10 million bushels also were below the rate needed to be shipped every week to meet USDA’s forecast for the marketing year, though the pace to date remains better than normal.

The only good news for beans is lack of cancellations from China showing up in the tally. Cancellations from unknown destinations totaled 2.5 million, a drop in the bucket compared to earlier rumors.

For the complete export report, click here.