The United States Department of Agriculture reports that in the first week of 2022, private exporters in the country sold 132,000 metric tons of corn to Mexico.
The department announced the figure Jan. 10, stating that of the 132,000 metric tons of corn sold, 77,000 metric tons is for delivery in the 2021/2022 marketing year and 55,000 metric tons is for delivery in the 2022/2023 marketing year.
The USDA is required by law to release weekly sales data on corn and other agriculture commodities, per the Export Sales Reporting Program, the department notes on on its website.
"Each week, U.S. exporters are required to report to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) any sales transaction entered into with a buyer outside the United States" for several commodities, regardless of amount, the agency states. Commodities listed include barley, beef, corn, oats, pork, rice, soybeans and wheat, among others. Weekly reporting of all food donations is also required.
Among information required in the sales reports from exporters is type and class of exported commodity, the marketing year of the shipment and the shipment's destination, USDA states. The weekly reporting period runs Friday through Thursday, with updates posted by 8:30 a.m. the following Thursday, according to USDA. Daily reports to the USDA must be made for specific export sales activities, such as selling high quantities of a commodity to one destination in a short amount of time.
According to USDA statistics, the most corn ever sold in one day was 3,720,000 metric tons, to Russia on Jan. 9, 1991.
The last weekly update, posted Jan. 6, said net sales of 457,000 metric tons of corn sold was up 79% form the previous week, but down 59% from the four-week average. It added that Mexico was a primary area of increase at 278,000 metric tons, including decreases of 20,600 metric tons. Mexico was also listed as a primary export location of corn at 347,800 metric tons.
