US net export sales of corn for both old crop and new crop for the current and next marketing year totaled 625,959 mt in the week ended May 16, down 1.2% from the previous week, Department of Agriculture data showed Thursday.
Of that total, 442,080 mt was for the current 2018-19 marketing year or the old crop, and 183,879 mt were for the next 2019-20 marketing year, or the new crop, the weekly export sales report data showed.
Market expectations for the net export sales total were between 250,000 mt and 1.050 million mt, sources said. Expectations were for between 200,000 mt and 600,000 mt for the 2018-19 marketing year, and between 50,000 and 450,000 mt for next marketing year.
The weekly US corn export net sale for the current 2018-19 marketing year were down 20% from the previous week and from the prior four-week average, the USDA said.
Since the 2018-19 marketing year began on September 1, total commitments - cumulative exports plus outstanding sales - have reached 47.340 million mt, down 11% year on year and just 0.3% above the five-year average.
That total was up to 81% of the USDA's 58.423 million mt recently updated projection for the 2018-19 marketing year. USDA's export projection was cut from 60.328 million mt on April 9, and it was also cut from 62.233 million mt on March 8.
Outstanding export sales of US corn - product sold but not yet shipped - for the current marketing year through the most recent week totaled 9.460 million mt, 47% below the total at the same point last year and 32% below the five-year average, the USDA said.
The top corn buyers in the most recent week for deliveries in the current marketing year were Japan with 185,827 mt, Colombia with 40,869 mt and Costa Rica with 30,782 mt.
The top buyers in the current marketing year have been Mexico at 14.844 million mt, Japan at 10.711 million mt, Colombia at 4.318 million mt and South Korea at 3.758 million mt, the data showed.
Since the beginning of the marketing year, 1.234 million mt of US corn has been committed for unknown destinations, including this week's sale of 42,572 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 barges corn market.
Corn is the primary feedstock for ethanol production in the US and is the main competitor for dried distillers grains.
Source :- Spglobal.com
