US wheat net export sales dip on week, China reemerges as top buyer

US net export sales of wheat dipped the week ended July 30, US Department of Agriculture data showed Aug. 6, with China again emerging as the top buyer of the wheat in recent weeks as it continued to ramp up purchases of US agriculture goods.

Net export sales of US wheat reached 605,472 mt in the latest week, down 10.5% from the previous week, but sales remained up 2% from the prior four-week average, the data showed.

The pace of US weekly wheat sales in the latest week remained the fourth-highest since the marketing year started June 1. Sales were in the range of trade expectations of 200,000-800,000 mt.

China booked 85,000 mt of US wheat in the week ended July 30, with total outstanding sales reaching 645,000 mt, compared with 60,000 mt, according to the data. China’s commitments for US wheat were already past 1 million mt, the largest amount in the last three marketing years.

China remained on a buying spree of US agricultural products, with major purchases seen for soybeans and corn in recent weeks, while wheat sales also remained above expectations so far.

After the Philippines, China’s commitments for US wheat remain higher than Mexico and Japan, the two largest traditional buyers of US wheat.

Brazil has continued to feature as one of the top buyers of US wheat in the latest week, with total outstanding sales and exports already higher year on year.

Total physical wheat exports rose on the week, with shipments the third-highest since the marketing year started.

Wheat exports in the week ended July 30 totaled 598,060, up 18.3% from the last week. This took cumulative wheat exports to 4.53 million mt since the new season started, up 8.8% on the year.

With the marketing season in its 10th week, total commitments for US wheat already accounted for 39.5% of the US Department of Agriculture’s export estimates of 25.86 million mt in 2020-21. Commitments are outstanding sales plus cumulative exports.
Source: Platts