March 12, 2008

USDA raises forecast for US soy exports on China demand

The USDA raised its forecast again on Tuesday (March 11, 2008) for soy exports in the 2007-08 marketing year, thanks to rising demand in China.

The new March forecast, part of USDA's monthly supply and demand report, raised US soy exports to 1.025 billion bushels, a 20-million-bushel increase from its February prediction.

The 2007-08 soy export forecast was 1.005 billion bushels in February and 995 million bushels in January.

The USDA said "strong sales, especially to China" were the primary factor in the new export forecast, but weakened competition from Brazil was also cited in the monthly report. The forecast for total Brazilian soy exports was lowered to 27.69 million tonnes, down from 29.7 million tonnes.

Soy carryout for 2007-08 was lowered in the March report to just 140 million bushels. That's down from the February forecast of 160 million and the January forecast of 175 million.