(NAFB.com) – The USDA’s Economic Research Service says U.S. corn export sales have continued at a rapid pace and support a 100 million bushel month-to-month increase for the 2024-2025 marketing year. That raises the forecast to a record-high 2.75 billion bushels. If that number is realized, 2024-2025 corn exports will exceed the 2023-2024 estimate by nearly 500 million bushels, or 22 percent. The ERS says that through 300 days of the marketing year, export sales are nearly on pace to match the previously record-setting level realized in the 2020-2021 marketing year. Elevated exports are supported by sizable growth in corn shipments to South Korea, Mexico, and Spain. What’s even more surprising is that U.S. corn exports have surged without significant demand from China. In 2020-2021, shipments to China made up almost 31 percent of U.S. corn exports. This year, shipments to China make up less than one percent of total exports through May 2025.