Glacier FarmMedia — The United States sold at least 332,000 tonnes of soybeans to China during the government shutdown, with more business to “unknown destinations” also likely headed to the country, according to a cache of daily sales data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Nov. 14.
The USDA typically issues daily updates on any export sales above 100,000 tonnes, but those flash reports were halted during the shutdown. The missed daily sales from Oct. 2 through Nov. 12 were released Friday, while the complete data typically included in the weekly updates will be doled out over the next two months as the agency catches up.
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In addition to the confirmed sales of 332,000 tonnes of soybeans to China, the USDA reported an additional 617,000 tonnes of soybeans to “unknown destinations” that could have been China. While the Chinese demand was welcome, the total U.S. soybean sales of 1.348 million tonnes reported over the period remained well behind the 12 million tonnes to China alone before the end of the year promised by the White House.
Flash corn export sales over the government shutdown included nearly 4.2 million tonnes of business for the 2025/26 marketing year and an additional 548,640 tonnes to move in 2025/26. Mexico was the largest destination.
