US cuts soy stockpile estimates on higher domestic use

Soy inventories in the US, the world's largest grower and exporter, will be lower than forecast last month because of increased domestic demand, the government said.

Stockpiles will total 185 million bushels at the end of the marketing year on August 31, compared with 138 million bushels a year earlier, the USDA said. Last month, the USDA forecast 190 million bushels. An increase in the estimate for crushings to 1.74 billion bushels from 1.735 billion bushels in May accounted for the difference.

Meanwhile, the US is now forecast to export a record amount of soymeal in the current 2009-10 marketing year, according to a USDA report released Thursday (June 10).

The rise in foreign demand for US soymeal, the USDA said in its June edition of the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, pushed the soy crush estimate higher although the prediction for soymeal ending stocks remains unchanged thanks to a reduction in expected domestic use.

According to the report, soy crush for 2009-10 is raised 5 million bushels to 1.74 billion bushels reflecting an increase in projected soymeal exports; while soymeal exports are projected at a record 11.5 million tonnes, almost 2 million tonnes above the previous record set in 1997-98.

Soy futures for July delivery rise 12.5 cents, or 1.3%, to US$9.435 a bushel yesterday on the Chicago Board of Trade. The most-active contract has dropped 10% this year on forecasts for record crops in South America.