US corn net export sales down 11% on week at 769,205 mt: USDA

Houston — US net export sales of corn for the 2019-20 marketing year totaled 769,205 mt in the week ended February 27, down 11% from the 864,635 mt in the previous week, according to Department of Agriculture data released Thursday.

The total was down 29% from the prior four-week average, the USDA said in its Exports Sales Highlights report.

In addition to the exports sales for the 2019-20 marketing year, the USDA said 100,032 mt of US corn was sold for the 2020-21 marketing year.

Market expectations for net export sales were between 700,000 mt and 1.2 million mt for the current marketing year, and up to 100,000 mt for the next marketing year, sources said.

So far in the 2019-20 marketing year that began September 1, total commitments -- cumulative exports plus outstanding sales -- have reached 26.642 million mt, down 34% year on year and 29% below the five-year average. That total was up to 61% of the USDA's projection of 43.817 million mt of export sales for the current marketing year.

Outstanding export sales of US corn -- product sold but not yet shipped -- for the current marketing year totaled 12.262 million mt, 14% below the year-ago level and 27% below the five-year average, the USDA said.

The outright price for S&P Global Platts corn CIF New Orleans in barges, for current-month shipment, dropped 9 cents week on week to $4.19/bushel on February 27, while CBOT March corn futures dropped 12.5 cents to $3.6450/bu.

The top buyers in the current marketing year include Mexico at 10.711 million mt, Japan at 5.141 million mt, Colombia at 2.599 million mt, and Guatemala at 858,474 mt, the data showed.

The top corn buyers in the most recent week for deliveries in 2019-20 include Mexico with 248,100 mt, South Korea with 136,004 mt, and Colombia with 88,000 mt.

Since the start of the marketing year, 1.8881 million mt of US corn has been committed for unknown destinations, including this week's sales of 29,820 mt, USDA data showed.

Net sales are considered a more appropriate indicator of the strength of the corn market than physical exports, because they reflect new sales. The outstanding export sales are considered an indicator of the strength of the New Orleans CIF barge corn market.

Of the total estimated US corn production for 2019-20, 12.6% is projected to be exported, and US corn total exports are estimated to be 26.4% of the total corn exported in the world.

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