US corn net export sales jump fourfold on Chinese purchases

Houston — US corn net export sales more than quadrupled on the week ended March 18 on the back of Chinese buying, according to US Department of Agriculture data released March 25.

Sales were 4.48 million mt March 12-18, up from 986,000 mt the week ended March 11. The reported quantity was within trade estimations, which ranged from 3.8-4.7 million mt.

The USDA reported four private exporter sales to China March 16-19 totaling 3.876 million mt after weeks without any published notices. These purchases were in the days leading up to a meeting between top US and Chinese officials in Alaska.

For the week ended March 18, China was responsible for the bulk of net export sales with 3.89 million mt bought. South Korea was next with 353,300 mt, followed by Mexico with 196,000 mt. These additions offset reductions of 462,000 mt for unknown destinations.

Net sales for the 2021-22 crop were 144,600 mt; 90,000 mt were sold to Mexico, 50,000 mt to unknown destinations and 4,600 mt to Japan.

Weekly export shipments fell 7.4% on the week to 2.04 million mt, which was still 17% above the four-week average. The largest portion of this was 470,000 mt sent to Mexico, followed by 418,000 mt to China and 349,000 mt to South Korea.

Total commitments, which are outstanding sales plus accumulated exports, rose 4.48 million mt on the week. China dwarfed all other countries in this category with 23.25 million mt of commitments out of 65 million mt total. The next largest buyer was Mexico with 12.6 million mt committed, then Japan with 8.63 million mt.

The CIF New Orleans basis in barges for the current month shipment was mostly steady over the week, rising 1 cent to close at 70 cents/bu on March 18. The outright price likewise slightly rose from $6.17/bu on March 12 to $6.255/bu on March 18. CBOT corn futures May (K) increased 7.5 cents during the week, settling at $5.465/bu on March 18.

Corn is the primary feedstock for ethanol production in the US and the main competitor for dried distillers grains in feed rations.