Early Corn Exports Much Higher

If the U.S. corn crop could make New Year’s resolutions, the 2024/2025 marketing year resolution – which began in September – would be “export more.” Corn had a strong start.

Corn

The first consideration is how many bushels of corn were booked when the marketing year began. For 2024/25, 504m bushels were reported at the beginning of September (Figure 1). This would be the strongest showing in recent years and 20% higher than a year ago.

Given that it’s early in the marketing year, year-over-year comparisons can fluctuate quite a bit. For instance, by the end of September, corn activity was only 10% ahead of last year.

Figure 1. Early U.S. corn export sales, total before the marketing year begins, 1999/00 to 2024/25. Data source: USDA FAS.

EDITOR’S TAKE:

With substantial inventories in the bin and the prospect of another bountiful harvest this fall, it is welcome news to see corn exports off to a strong start. As the article suggests, however, this is just the beginning of the new marketing year. We hope the trend continues, but there are many factors that must be accounted for over the entire marketing year. For instance, demand for livestock feed, use for ethanol, the relative strength of the U.S. dollar, production in other countries, etc. For now, we will be thankful that corn export sales are headed in the right direction! More exports lead to better price support which leads to the potential for more truck sales. Be sure you put your inventory on AgTruckTrader.com®. It specifically targets farmers/ranchers who are interested in purchasing or leasing a new or qualified truck.