KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, U.S. — U.S. wheat inspected for export during the week ended Nov. 8 totaled 10,458,000 bushels, down 25% from 14,037,000 bushels a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its weekly Grain Inspections for Export report.
The weekly total was at the low end of trade expectations that ranged from 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 bushels.
Wheat inspected for the 2012-13 marketing year through Nov. 8 totaled 427,311,000 bushels, down 13% from 488,819,000 bushels during the same period in 2011-12, the USDA said.
Wheat exports have been lagging year ago levels as well as USDA projections in part due to high U.S. wheat prices relative to European and Black Sea region sources, and because freight costs are lower from those areas when shipping to key Middle East markets.
In its Nov. 9 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, the USDA projected 2012-13 U.S. wheat exports at 1.1 billion bushels, down 50 million bushels from its October projection but up 50 million bushels from 2011-12.