Total net export sales for the week ending Dec 24 were modestly lower vs the previous sales period at approximately 114K running bales while shipments improved significantly to nearly 167K running bales. Both sales and shipments were below the weekly pace required to meet the USDA’s revised 10M bale export target. Sales cancelations were nearly 10K running bales. Total commitments against the new marketing year are now 53% of the USDA’s export projection and new crop sales and shipments will need to average approximately 148K and 234K running bales per week, respectively, in order to meet the target.
This week’s figures are again nothing to get excited about, but they are also not terrible for the holiday season. Although we view the data as less than supportive, we doubt that it will be viewed negatively enough to allow the market to break below its established trading range.
