US weekly wheat exports to China top August shipments; total US wheat inspections up 30%

New Delhi — US wheat exports to China hit 90,106 mt in the week ended Sept. 3, with the weekly volumes higher than the overall inspections seen in August, indicating Chinese buyers remain interested as the country looks to ramp up purchases of US agricultural products.

Only 62,999 mt of US wheat was inspected weekly for exports to China in August, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture. However, China has been seeking US wheat aggressively, with the country booking second-largest volume of the current season in the week to Aug. 27.

With that latest purchase, China's total commitments for US wheat have now reached 1.47 million mt in 2020-21, inching to a five-year high, according to an analysis of USDA data.

China's bulk of US wheat purchases are of Hard Red Winter grade, with Hard Red Spring accounting for the remaining sales.

Other than wheat, China has been continuing on a buying spree of US agricultural products, including soybeans, corn, sorghum and pork.

Soybean sales topped 1 million mt for three weeks in August, according to the USDA data.

A series of buying from Chinese state-owned companies has been already confirmed by the USDA's daily flash sales announcements in the past few days, totaling 982,000 mt. The sales include private sales activity of 664,000 mt announced Sept. 8.

US wheat inspections rise

Overall, US wheat inspected for exports in the week ended Sept. 3 rose 30% on the week to 695,741 mt, USDA data showed Sept. 8.

In the week to Sept. 3, wheat inspected for exports to Yemen was the highest at 99,294 mt, with all of the inspections coming from the US Pacific ports, according to the data.

Asia again emerged as the top destination for the bulk of wheat exports for the second straight week.

So far in the new marketing year that started June 1, total wheat inspected for exports reached 7.5 million mt as of Sept. 3, up 6.4% on the year, according to the data.

The USDA estimates US to export 26.5 million mt of wheat in the 2020-21 season, higher than its previous projections.

Inspection for export indicates loading of a sold commodity onto ships that are set to leave US ports during a given week.