U.S. soybean export sales and shipments for the week ending Jun. 2 were well above year-ago levels and closer to the average of recent seasons.

Last year, with high U.S. pricing and the Brazilian crop amply supplying the market, U.S. soybean exports crawled through the final quarter of the marketing year: Jun-Aug 2021 shipments totaled just 3.1 MMT compared to 9.2 MMT for the same months in 2020, 11.9 MMT in 2019, and 9.7 MMT in 2018. Outstanding sales as of the beginning of June 2021 were just 3.8 MMT vs. Q4 orders of over 7.0 MMT we had seen on the books since 2017.

This year, outstanding sales as of Jun. 2 were close to 9.9 MMT (363 million bushels), which led USDA to increase 2021/22 estimated soybean exports in last week’s WASDE. However, orders on the books do not necessarily translate to shipments this marketing year: Orders may be cancelled or rolled over into 2022/23. Still, basis bids for soybeans destined for the Gulf strengthened notably over the last two weeks, reflecting exporters’ need for beans.

Weekly soybean exports by season


Source: USDA
Posted by: Information Services
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