KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — The latest data from the US Department of Agriculture indicates inspections of corn, wheat and soybeans for export from major US ports continued to decline in February. Inspection of grain for export through the Pacific Northwest were at the lowest level in seven months.

Total US grain inspections for export in the week ended Feb. 18, the latest for which data was available, were 2.31 million tonnes, down 15% from the previous week but up 18% from the same week in 2020, according to the USDA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service. The total was 6% lower compared with the average for the week from the most recent three years.

However, cumulative 2021 grain inspections for export totaled 23.97 million tonnes, up 39% from the same period in in 2020.

US inspections for export in the latest week were lower by individual commodity as well. Wheat inspections totaled 342,000 tonnes, down 22% from the prior week. Corn inspections totaled 1.21 million, down 7% from the previous week. Soybeans inspections totaled 760,000 tonnes, down 22% from the previous week.

Pacific Northwest grain inspections for export in the latest week totaled 558,000 tonnes, down 35% from the prior week and the lowest since late July 2020. Compared with the previous week, PNW wheat inspections were down 37%, corn inspections were down 26%, and soybean inspections were down 39%.

Mississippi Gulf grain inspections for export were down 5% from the previous week. That region had the largest 2021 cumulative inspections total at 13.07 million tonnes, a 38% increase from the same period in the same region in 2020.

Texas Gulf inspections were up 374 % from the previous week. Interior inspections were down 12% from the prior week. Atlantic inspections were down 73% and consisted entirely of soybeans. No grain or oilseeds were inspected in the Great Lakes region.