By Karl Plume
Nov 3 (Reuters) – U.S. soybean export inspections hit an all-time high last week as China and other global buyers raced to secure supplies from the massive U.S. harvest after a seasonal slowdown in South American shipments, analysts said after the release of weekly government data on Monday.
“Major southeast Asian buyers are jumping ahead and securing beans and beefing up their inventories to cover themselves until Brazil and Argentina come online,” said Terry Reilly, senior commodities analyst with Futures International.
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“It’s all about the U.S. right now. We do have the capacity if the demand is there,” he said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said 2.77 million tonnes of soybeans were inspected for export in the week ended Oct. 30, 23 percent above the same week a year ago. The week’s total was the largest on record for the oilseed, analysts said, and well above trade projections for 1.85 million to 2.1 million tonnes.
Officials with USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, which compiles the weekly data, could not immediately confirm the record. Federal Grain Inspection Services data showed that it was the biggest single-week soy inspections volume since at least 1996 when soybean exports were about half as large as current exports.
China, which imports about two-thirds of all soybeans traded globally every year, was the week’s top shipper with 2.14 million tonnes, or 77 percent of the total, as profitable crush margins at its processing plants elevated demand for imports.
USDA data showed that China is shipping beans out of nearly all bulk grain port regions including the U.S. Gulf, Pacific Northwest, and East Coast, as well as the St. Lawrence Seaway, a location more typical of wheat exports.
The heavy soybean volume came at the expense of lower-than-expected corn inspections of 425,856 tonnes, below trade estimates of 725,000 to 900,000 tonnes and the lowest weekly total since September 2013. Soybeans and corn are exported from the same export terminals.
Wheat export inspections of 208,706 tonnes were also below trade forecasts.
The USDA reports export inspections on Mondays and export sales on Thursdays.
