March 10, 2021

 

USDA latest outlook for domestic corn and soybean supplies unchanged

 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s latest outlook for domestic corn and soybean supplies remained unchanged at seven-year lows, Reuters reported.

 

The latest USDA report presented the stocks forecast slightly bigger than analysts' expectations but showed domestic supplies will stay tight until domestic farmers start harvesting crops in the fall when a big crop will be required to meet growing domestic and export demand.

 

Soybean and corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped to session lows following the release of the USDA report. All three commodities returned to pre-report levels quickly after, with trade focused on projections for United States planting weather.

 

Charlie Sernatinger, global head of grain futures at ED&F Man Capital, said the USDA report is a plain vanilla report provoking a plain vanilla response.

 

The USDA's monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report forecast domestic corn stocks at 1.502 billion bushels by end August, and soybean stocks at 120 million bushels.

 

Analysts projected the report would show corn ending stocks of 1.471 billion bushels and soybean ending stocks of 117 million bushels, according to an average of estimates provided in a Reuters poll.

 

The USDA's domestic wheat stocks outlook was also unchanged at 836 million bushels, the lowest since the 2014/2015 marketing year. Analysts projected a slight increase.

 

The USDA's Brazilian soybean crop outlook was raised by 1 million to 134 million tonnes, but left Brazilian corn harvest outlook unchanged at 109 million tonnes.

 

Heavy rains in Brazil have slowed soybean harvest, adding to concerns about crop quality and delaying future corn planting.

 

USDA's Argentina soybean production forecast was lowered to 47.50 million tonnes from 48 million.

 

- Reuters