Sharply higher sales of soybean, cotton, and livestock products are leading a rebound in U.S. farm exports this year, said the Agriculture Department. With four months left in the fiscal year, the USDA estimated exports at $137 billion, up nearly 6 percent from 2016 and reversing two years of declining sales.
In a quarterly report, the USDA raised its forecast for exports by $1 billion, based on rising demand for cotton in China and Indonesia, for red meat in Mexico and Asia, and for soy oil and soymeal in several markets. “The generally stronger Brazilian real and Argentine peso so far this year have supported U.S. competitiveness in the soybean and [soy] products markets,” said the USDA. Brazil, the largest soy exporter in the world and second to the United States as a soybean producer, is making inroads in the Chinese market, and its overall exports are ahead of last year’s pace.
U.S. soybean exports are estimated at $22.6 billion for fiscal 2017, up $2.2 billion from last year. Cotton exports are forecast to be $2 billion higher than last year’s $3.4 billion, due in part to a larger harvest. U.S. cotton is taking a bigger share of the world market, in part because of smaller exports from Australia and Uzbekistan and in part because of a demonetization policy in India, the world’s largest cotton grower, which resulted in smaller exports and larger imports than expected.
The USDA said exports of livestock products, which include meat, hides, and dairy, would total $28.7 billion, an increase of $3.1 billion from 2016, highlighted by greater sales of pork, beef, and dairy products. The agency tempered its outlook for horticultural exports, at $33.5 billion, the largest sector of U.S. farm exports, because of softer prices for tree nuts. “Record almond stocks and ample pistachio inventories have pressured unit prices lower, more than offsetting higher overseas demand from top markets in Europe and China,” it said. Nut exports are forecast at $8.5 billion; while that would be a $1 billion increase from last year, it would be less than the $1.5 billion gain that was expected in February’s estimate.