The amount of US corn inspected for export in the week ended December 28 increased 10.3% week on week to 683,898 mt, Department of Agriculture data showed Tuesday.
The volume inspected was 7.1% higher than the 638,577 mt inspected for export in the year-ago week, according to the USDA's weekly Federal Grain Inspection Service report.
Most of the US' grain exports continued to be soybeans, with 51% of the total inspected for export, compared with 31% for corn, according to USDA data.
In the 17 weeks since the current marketing year began on September 1, the amount of US corn inspected for export totaled 10.54 million mt, 38.2% less than in the same period in the previous marketing year and 21.6% of the USDA's 48.898 million mt projection for the year.
The top destinations for corn inspected leaving from the US Gulf Coast were Mexico with 99,230 mt, Japan with 64,617 mt and Peru with 52,180 mt, the data showed.
The top destination for corn that was inspected leaving from Pacific Coast ports was South Korea, with 131,038 mt and Japan with 120,905 mt.
The top destination for corn that was inspected leaving from the Interior region was Mexico with 84,188 mt of yellow corn.
US corn inspected for export is corn that has been sold and is inspected as it is being loaded at export locations for shipment overseas. Traders consider the pace needed to meet the USDA projection an indicator of demand.
Corn is the primary feedstock for ethanol production in the US and is the main competitor for dried distillers grains.
