U.S. corn, soybean production estimates lowered

The USDA is now forecasting a harvest of 384.6 million tonnes of yellow grain for the 2024-25 US campaign, 1.54 million less than announced in its previous projection published in October, according to the monthly WASDE (World agricultural supply and demand estimates) report. "The progress of the US corn harvest has made it possible to adjust yields downwards (...) and this is leading to a decline in production," commented Gautier Le Molgat, CEO of Argus Media France. "It's taking everyone by surprise (...) we can finally see that (yields) were perhaps not that good," stressed Damien Vercambre, broker at Inter-Courtages. At the same time, global corn production estimates have been revised upwards (+2.21 million tonnes), notably thanks to "Uganda, Malawi, Belarus, Mozambique, Kenya and Cameroon," according to the USDA. At the global level, this increase in production is however offset by an increase in estimated consumption, which has led to a reduction in expected stocks at the ...