March 13, 2006

USDA raises forecast for China's soybean production

The US Department of Agriculture Friday (Mar 10) raised its forecast for Chinese soybean production in the 2005-06 marketing year to 18.3 million tonnes, up from the USDA's February prediction of 17 million tonnes.

The USDA, in its monthly supply and demand report, said, "China soybean production is raised 1.3 million tonnes...based on increased area and yield."

That increase, the USDA said, is part of an expected record global production of oilseeds in 2005/06. The world oilseed forecast is now 393 million tonnes, 3.7 million tonnes more than USDA's February forecast.

The USDA, in the March report, also raised its forecast for Chinese ending stocks and lowered its prediction for China's imports.

China is now expected to import just 27 million tonnes of soybeans, down from USDA's February forecast of 27.5 million tonnes. The forecast for China's ending stocks is now set at 4.5 million tonnes, up from 4.1 million tonnes a month ago.

The USDA did not alter its forecasts for Brazilian and Argentine soybean production. It left those unchanged in the March supply and demand report. The USDA forecast for Brazilian soybean production remains stable at 58.5 million tonnes and the forecast for Argentine production remains the same at 40.5 million tonnes.