Drop in U.S. bulk exports highlighted by USDA report
Down 10 points in three years says FAS
| 2 min read
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Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — Since 2020, bulk exports out of the United States rose and then fell back, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture report released on June 6. Issued by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, the Rise and Fall of Bulk Commodities cited several reasons for the drop in bulk exports.
The FAS said bulk exports averaged about 31 per cent of total U.S. ag exports from 2014 to 2020. That improved to 38 per cent by 2022, but they are expected to drop to 28.5 per cent in 2025.
The increases prior to this year were attributed to greater demand from China, reduced supplies due to droughts in the Northern Hemisphere, reduced ending stocks plus higher energy and fertilizer costs. Also the Russian invasion of Ukraine and restricted exports from a number of countries contributed to the increases in bulk exports from the U.S.
The turnaround began in 2022, just as those bulk exports topped off. The FAS said the Black Sea Grain Initiative, rising global supplies, along with reduced energy and fertilizer costs influenced the decline. Added to that were restrictions on vessels transiting the Panama Canal plus Houthi attacks along the Suez Canal and Red Sea.
Demand from China has shifted during the 2020-25 period, with soybeans, cotton, sorghum, wheat and corn often accounting for 70 per cent of U.S. ag exports to the country. A lackluster Chinese economy and more recent hikes in tariffs on U.S. imports have affected that movement. The FAS noted U.S. corn exports to China alone plummeted 80 per cent in 2024 and are down this year.
That’s due in part to China realigning its imports from the U.S. to Brazil, which became the world’s largest corn exporter in 2023. Others such as Argentina, Ukraine, Russia, and the European Union have eaten away at the U.S. market share.
The FAS said the U.S. was the world’s largest export of corn, wheat and soybeans 20 year ago. It supplied 68 per cent of the corn, 24 per cent of the wheat, and 40 per cent of the soybeans. In 2024, those fell to 30 per cent, nine per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.
