July 20, 2012

US corn export sales down as prices soar

As global importers turned to cheaper grain from South America or Ukraine, US corn prices soared amid the worst US drought since 1956 and slashed export sales last week.

Export sales of US soy also dragged, falling last week to the lowest point in nearly six months, the USDA said Thursday (July 19).

Prices of both commodities soared to record highs on Thursday (July 19) due to a worsening drought in the heart of the US Midwest farm belt which has already damaged crops to a degree not seen since the dire drought of 1988.

Net corn export sales in the week ended July 12 totalled just 180,700 tonnes, 148,900 tonnes of that for shipment in the 2012-13 marketing year which begins September 1. The majority of the sales were to top corn importer Japan. In the same week a year ago, corn sales totalled 901,500 tonnes.

Corn export sales have failed to top 400,000 tonnes in seven of the past eight weeks, USDA data showed.

Soy export sales fell to 407,600 tonnes last week, the lowest since late January. Purchases by China, the world's top soy importer, were that country's smallest in seven weeks.