WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday raised its outlook for domestic soybean supplies, with massive crops in Brazil and Argentina seen keeping a lid on U.S. exports of the oilseed.
Corn ending stocks were left unchanged, USDA said in its monthly supply and demand report.
U.S. soybean ending stocks for the 2016-17 crop year were pegged at 445 million bushels, up from the government’s previous outlook of 435 million bu. The new number was similar to the average of estimates in a Reuters poll of analysts who had expected the report to show ending stocks of 447 million bu.
Read Also
Feed Grains Weekly: Price likely to keep stepping back
As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
The outlook for soybean exports held steady at 2.025 billion bu,, USDA said. In March, it had cut its soybean exports estimate by 25 million bu.
For corn, USDA said ending stocks would be 2.320 billion bushels, the same as its March outlook and a little lower than the average of analysts’ forecasts of 2.352 billion.
It said ending stocks of wheat would be 1.159 billion bushels, up from the 1.129 billion bushels it forecast in March. That was a little higher than analysts’ expectations for 1.147 billion.
