Grain exports slide after Trump win

CHICAGO - Mexican demand for U.S. grain imports has slumped along with the country's sinking peso as buyers withdrew from the market amid soaring costs in the week since Donald Trump won the presidential election, traders and industry analysts said.

Corn prices in pesos jumped more than 10 percent overnight for the top U.S. customer as the election result sent the currency plunging to an all-time low against the dollar, they said.

'People are just waiting for the dust to settle and trying to get a better feel of where the currency markets are going,” said a U.S. corn exporter who asked not to be named.

Trading desk phones that were ringing regularly before the election went quiet in the days that followed, he said.

Mexico is the No. 2 importer of Iowa corn, according to the U.S. Grains Council.

The first evidence of the slowdown could come as early as today, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases export sales data for the week ended Nov. 10. That data will include a flurry of buying by Mexico and others ahead of the Nov. 8 election and two days of post-election trade.

Data showing lower sales to Mexico is more likely in upcoming weekly reports, trade sources said.

Mexico bought 709,261 tonnes of U.S. corn in the week before the election, three times the average volume over the preceding month, USDA data showed.

Traders said it remained too soon to gauge how longer term trade patterns could shift, but stressed that Mexico has few other options for grain and will continue to be largely reliant on its northern neighbor.