April 11, 2008

US corn export sales drop by 32 percent

Weekly US corn export sales have plummeted to a new low due to record prices while wheat and soy sales become stronger than before, according to government data and grain traders.

Net corn export sales in the week ended April 3 were 474,000 tonnes, down 32 percent from the previous week and at its lowest point since August, according to a USDA weekly export sales report.

Corn prices in the spot month at CBOT are up 24 percent so far in 2008, hitting a new high.

"End users were unwilling to chase prices. They will sit back and take advantage of price breaks," said Shawn McCambridge, an analyst with Prudential Financial.

The high prices have also led to Taiwan cancelling 117,700 tonnes of US corn imports, choosing to import corn from China and India instead.

US corn export sales have slowed since January, dropping by 9 percent compared to January 2007.

Meanwhile, weekly soy sales totalled 584,000 tonnes, up 216 percent from the previous week, with China importing 286,100 tonnes of it. This is the third week in a row that China has bought in more than 200,000 tonnes of US soy and the sales boost was due to the farmer strike in Argentina that had seen exports temporarily suspended.

In addition, weekly wheat export sales also received a boost due to a sharp fall in futures prices, with sales totalling 454,000 tonnes, up 70 percent from the previous week.