US corn outstanding export sales -- corn sold but not shipped yet -- for the ongoing marketing year currently total 11.810 million mt, 31% above the same period last year and 70.9% above the average for the last five years, the Department of Agriculture said Friday.
The current marketing year began on September 1, 2015 and ends August 31.
US weekly net export corn sales for the current marketing year -- old crop -- dropped 21.1% in the week that ended June 30 to 369,750 mt, the USDA said in its weekly export report. US weekly net export corn sales for the next marketing year -- new crop -- dropped 17.3% in the week that ended June 30 to 443,245 mt, it added. Total export sales for both corn crops were 812,995 mt.
Weekly physical exports dropped 15.1% from the previous week to 1.270 million mt in the most recent week.
In the 43 weeks since the marketing year began, commitments -- accumulated exports plus outstanding sales -- totaled 47.252 million mt, which is already above the USDA's 46.357 million mt projection for the current marketing year. Some sources said USDA could revise upward its projection next week.
The top buyers for the current marketing year are Mexico (12.346 million mt), Japan (10.215 million mt) and Colombia (4.549 million mt).
Accumulated corn exports reached 35.441 million mt in the most recent week, 5% below the same point in the previous marketing year, with total year commitments 2% above the previous year, the data show.
The top buyers in the most recent week, for the current marketing year, were Taiwan (160,294 mt), Japan (66,661 mt) and Korea (65,000 mt).
Net sales are considered a more appropriate indicator of the strength of the corn market than physical exports because they reflect new sales.
CBOT front-month corn futures opened 1.75 cents higher Friday at $3.3725/bushel.
Corn is the primary feedstock for ethanol production in the US and is the main competitor for dried distillers' grains.
