Grain Inspections Down By A Quarter From Last Year

For the week ending April 2, total inspections of grain (corn, wheat and soybeans) for export from all major U.S. export regions totaled 1.9 million metric tons (mmt.), according to USDA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service.

Total grain inspections were down 9 percent from the previous week, down 25 percent  from last year and down 25 percent from the three-year average. Compared to the previous week, corn inspections were unchanged at 1.25 mmt., but wheat and soybean inspections decreased 17 percent and 28 percent , respectively.

Total grain inspections decreased 42 percent from the previous week in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) but increased 6 percent in the Mississippi Gulf. During the last four weeks, inspections of grain were 17 percent below last year and 23 percent below the three-year average.

For the week ending March 26, unshipped balances of wheat, corn and soybeans totaled 23.7 mmt. This represented a 28 percent decrease in outstanding sales compared to the same time last year. Net corn export sales were 1.075 mmt., down 41 percent from the past week.

Net soybean export sales were 0.958 mmt., up 6 percent from the previous week. Net weekly wheat export sales were 0.073 mmt., down 90 percent from the previous week.