US corn exports soar in past 12 months

US corn is leaving the country as quickly as it can be loaded - with 12,053,200 metric tons or 475 million bushels already sold and delivered in marketing year 2020/2021.
Another 29,526,600 metric tons, nearly 1.2 billion bushels was waiting to head to their overseas destinations as of December 12, according to US Grains Council.
The total sales yet to be shipped and those that have been delivered is up by 242% over the last marketing year.
This has been driven by increased sales to each of the top five buyers including China, which is up 19,521% alone.
China is a big and unexpected player in global corn markets, having bought at least 11,673,300 metric tons including 7,570,600 metric tons still yet to be shipped in the coming months.
Corn sold to "unknown destinations" totalled 7,007,700 metric tons.
The other top buyers so far in this marketing year - Mexico, Japan, Colombia and South Korea - have also increased purchases over a year ago at this time, by a total of 5,452,500 metric tons.
Additionally, sales of US corn have been booked to Taiwan, Vietnam, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Israel - a turnaround from a year ago, when US origin was facing stiff competition from South America and the Black Sea.
The US Grains Council, which carries out market development on behalf of the US feed grains and ethanol industries, works in 50 countries and the European Union in a typical year.