Processors, exporters and livestock feeders will use a record 13.8 billion bushels of corn this marketing year, helping to pare down the largest stockpile in nine years. In its monthly WASDE report, USDA estimates a corn supply of 1.59 billion bushels when the 2015/16 marketing year ends next Aug 31, down 8 percent from level at the start of the year. Large industrial use, including larger production of corn sweetener and corn ethanol, fuels the increase in corn use from 2014/15. USDA also lowered its forecast of the corn crop by 110 million bushel, of nearly 1 percent.
The commodity price outlook remains daunting. With nearly a five-month supply of wheat on hand, the farm-gate price is forecast to be the lowest in six years. The season-average corn price would be the second-lowest in six years and the national average soybean price would be lowest in nine years. While corn and soybean prices are low, the stockpiles are high – corn would be the second-biggest in six years and soybean ending stocks would be the largest in nine years.