The Agriculture Department said record sales and shipments through November prompted it to raise the export forecast by 20 million bushels, which will reduce the soybean carryover to 165 million bushels, slightly more than traders expected. It would be the third year in a row of tight supplies.
Corn supplies will be marginally larger, said USDA, due to a 5 million bushel increase in imports that will be helped in part by a record crop in Canada. U.S. corn stocks would total 8 32 million bushels at the end of 2010/11, the smallest carryover in 15 years and one-half of the stockpile at the start of the year.
Although U.S. wheat exports are booming, millers are extracting more flour per bushel than usual, so U.S. end stocks will tally 858 million bushels, up 10 million bushels from the previous estimate, said USDA.
Traders expected USDA to reduce end stocks for corn and wheat, rather than raise them. They expected corn stocks of 806 million bushels and wheat of 839 million. They expected soybe an end stocks of 160 million bushels, just below USDAs figure.
U.S. cotton stocks will drop to 1.90 million bales weighing 480 lb (218 kg), the smallest supply since 1925, said USDA. It boosted U.S. mill use by 100,000 bales from November and said the 2010 crop was 1 percent smaller, at 18.268 million bales, chiefly due to lower yields in Texas, the No 1 state. (Reuters)
