High demand causes surge in corn prices |
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Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:01
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WASHINGTON (AFX) - Ethanol plants and foreign buyers are gobbling the nation's corn supplies, pushing prices as high as $3.40 a bushel, the Agriculture Department said Friday.Farmers haven't seen prices this high for more than a decade. The monthly crop report forecast even better prices than in December, raising the estimate 10 cents to $3 to $3.40 a bushel.Robust prices have made corn more expensive for livestock feed and as food for people. But a drop-off in those uses was more than offset by growing demand from foreign markets. Exports are forecast to claim 2.25 billion bushels of corn from last year's crop, up from last month's forecast of 2.2 billion bushels.Overall, the corn crop came in at 10.5 billion bushels, slightly under last month's forecast of 10.7 billion bushels. Anticipated yields were 2.1 bushels lower per acre, and the area planted and harvested was slightly smaller than expected.The amount of corn used for ethanol, forecast at 2.15 billion bushels, was unchanged from last month.Nationwide, supplies of corn are expected to drop to 752 million bushels, a drop from last month's forecast of 935 million bushels and a steep decline from last year's supply of 1.967 billion bushels.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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