U.S. Farm Exports Seen Rising $4 Billion
The USDA last Friday forecast that the dollar value of U.S. agricultural exports will rise 7.5% in fiscal year 2003 due mainly to higher prices for grains and oilseeds.
Fiscal 2003 U.S.agricultural exports are forecast at $57.5
billion, a $4 billion increase over the $53.5 billion expected for fiscal 2002, which ends Sept. 30.
Export sales at this level would be the highest since 1997, only $2.3 billion below the 1996 record high of $59.9 billion.
USDA also is forecasting modest increases in the value of livestock and poultry product exports of $500 million and a $300 million gain for horticulture.
Bulk commodity volume is forecast to be down 4.6 million metric tons largely due to lower soybean and wheat shipments. However, for the major field crops – corn, rice and cotton – export volumes are expected to be higher.
Editors note: Richard Brock, Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.
To see more market perspectives, visit Brock's Web site at www.brockreport.com.
