U.S. corn export inspections increased after recent declines, yet remained below year-ago levels, according to the USDA’s Grain Export Inspections report on Monday. During the week ending March 12, corn inspections totaled 1.66 million metric tons (MMT), up 9.3 percent from the previous week. Volumes were 2 percent lower than the same week last year.

Mexico was the No. 1 destination for U.S. corn during the week. Japan, Colombia, Spain, and South Korea were also in the top five. Accumulated inspections for the marketing year reached 42.87 MMT, up 39 percent year-over-year.

U.S. soybean export inspections also increased 9.9 percent last week to 966,100 metric tons (MT). Volumes were up 46.9 percent compared to the same week last year.

China was the top destination, accounting for 56.5 percent of the volumes, followed by Egypt, Mexico, and Indonesia. Year-to-date inspections for the marketing year rose to 28.1 MMT, down 28 percent from the previous season.

For the week ending March 5, wheat export inspections dropped 31 percent to 343,000 MT. Volumes were also about 31 percent lower than the same week last year.

Mexico came in as the top destination for the week. The Phillipines, Bangladesh, South Korea and the Dominican Republic rounded out the top five. Accumulated inspections for the season are running 19 percent ahead of a year ago at 19.47 MMT.

Sorghum inspections softened last week to 127,600 MT, though movements remained sharply higher than a year ago. Year-to-date inspections rose to 2.504 MMT, running 61.2 percent ahead of the previous season.

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