Agriculture Market Gets Busy

CHICAGO - Feb 9/06 - SNS -- International agricultural commodity markets experienced a significant improvement in the level of activity, with several overnight trades reported for wheat.

The latest USDA supply and demand outlooks lifted the projected size of the U.S. soybean ending stock well above pre-report estimates. The average guess was 534 million bushels for U.S. residuals. The USDA pegged them at a record 555 million, up 50 from the last report.

The USDA numbers for corn were also disappointing. Traders expected more to be allocated to domestic needs, including ethanol usage than the USDA believed necessary. The USDA expects the season to end with 2,401 million bushels on hand, while the trade was expecting the number to come in closer to 2,389 million.

The USDA was also more conservative than expected in its wheat projections. It left the U.S. domestic numbers unchanged from January, with wheat ending stocks still forecast at 542 million bushels, compared to a pre-report trade expectation it would drop to around 536 million bushels.

In trade news, exporters in the United States report selling 126,000 metric tons (MT) of corn for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2005-06 marketing year; and 22,000 MT of corn for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2006-07 marketing year.

In releasing the information, the USDA said exporters in that country are required to report to USDA any export sales activity of 100,000 MT or more of one commodity, made in one day to one destination, by 3:00 p.m. Eastern time on the next business day following the sale. Export sales of less than these quantities must be reported to USDA on a weekly basis.

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