March 12, 2012

The US 2011-12 corn balance sheet remains unchanged in March as USDA kept its projections, maintaining production, exports and ending stocks at the same levels reported in February, despite concerns over South American crops.

USDA estimates US corn ending stocks at 801 million bushels for the season started September 2011, according to its closely watched World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report.

Production was pegged at 12.35 billion bushels for the season, while exports were forecast at 1.7 billion bushels.

Corn output in Argentina, the world's largest exporter behind the US, was kept unchanged at 22 million tonnes, after a downgrade from 26 million tonnes in the February report, despite concerns from analysts that a prolonged period of drought might have severely damaged crops.

Brazil corn production was raised one million tonnes to 62 million tonnes due to a larger-than-expected planted area, the USDA report said.

US corn used for ethanol production was also maintained at five billion bushels, unchanged from the February report. Around 40% of the US corn crop goes into ethanol manufacturing.