New York (awp/afp) – The areas dedicated to soybeans should be down sharply in the United States this year, according to estimates published Friday by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), information which propelled the oilseed price upwards.
According to the USDA, some 33.8 million hectares should be devoted to soybeans in the United States, or 4.5% less than last year. The gap is also marked with the intentions of farmers announced in March, which announced 35.4 million hectares.
Analysts were expecting a figure equivalent to that of March, according to a consensus established by the Reuters agency.
Soybean prices reacted sharply to this publication. On the Chicago Stock Exchange (CME), the benchmark contract on American soybeans was up almost 5%, the highest in ten months.
The farmers “just planted more corn, and less soy,” commented Jon Scheve of Superior Feed Ingredients.
“I have a farmer who asked me the same question,” the analyst continued. “I told him: you should know, you only planted corn this year.”
The USDA thus estimates the area occupied by corn at 38.1 million hectares this year, up 6.2% compared to 2022 and well above the sowing intentions published in March, which were displayed to 37.2 million hectares.
For Jon Scheve, many farmers have bet more on yellow grain than on pulses, hoping to get better prices.
But since the end of May, the price difference per bushel between the two crops has climbed more than 40% in favor of soybeans.
On Friday, the price of the American corn benchmark contract lost nearly 3%, the lowest in more than a month.
Corn suffered in particular from record harvests in Brazil, the world’s third largest producer, from an upward revision of expected production in Ukraine and from slightly less unfavorable weather conditions in the United States.
“Corn is likely to remain under strong downward pressure,” predicted Jon Scheve.
afp/rp
2023-06-30 18:06:04
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