Key Takeaways:

Export sales measure new commitments for future delivery, while export inspections provide a timelier gauge of grain that is physically moving through the export system. Sales and inspections often diverge from week to week because they measure different stages of the export process, so the two reports are most useful when analyzed together. Export sales provide a broader view of agricultural demand and can offer an earlier signal of changing buying interest, but reported sales can still be reduced or canceled before shipment. Analysts use sales, outstanding commitments, inspections, and seasonal shipment patterns to develop annual export forecasts as the marketing year progresses. Export forecasting remains one of the more...