US soybean net export sales for the 2018-19 marketing year were 388,422 mt for the week ending November 1, down 1.87% from the previous week, Department of Agriculture data showed Thursday.
The largest weekly sales were for the Netherlands with 140,393 mt, Thailand with 80,757 mt and Spain with 70,556 mt. Reductions of 379,486 mt were listed for unknown destinations. A volume of 60,000 mt was switched to Bangladesh after being originally destined for China.
Exports for the most recent week were 1.136 million mt, 13.49% lower than the previous week. Total accumulated physical exports for the 2018-19 marketing year increased to 8.623 million mt, 41.37% lower from the year-ago period, according to the USDA data.
Since the 2018-19 marketing year began September 1, total commitments - cumulative exports plus outstanding sales - were reported at 21.839 million mt. That represents 38.95% of the USDA's 56.604 million mt estimated exports for the entire marketing year.
Top US soybean export destinations for the week were the Netherlands with 140,393 mt, Mexico with 140,191 mt and China with 136,072 mt.
Net sales are considered a more appropriate indicator of the strength of the soybean market than the physical exports, because they reflect new sales activity.
