Soybean demand in Europe increased, and U.S. exports increased (12.19)

OA show ('918 '); while Europe is fighting mad cow disease, the demand for oil crops suddenly increases, while American farmers are in a good mood, because after four consecutive years of grain price decline, soybean prices rise U.S soybean exports will increase 25 million bushels and soybean meal exports will increase 200000 short tons, boosted by European demand, according to the U.S Department of agriculture's monthly global supply and demand report on Tuesday In order to control the spread of BSE, the European Union banned the use of meat and bone meal (MBM) for livestock feed from January 1, 2001, with a ban period of six months According to USDA estimates, Europe will need 900000 tons of soybeans and 600000 tons of soybean meal to replace bone meal If U.S exports reach USDA's estimate, this will boost farm prices of U.S soybeans by 10 percentage points Last month USDA estimated that this year's soybean production will reach a record 2777 million bushels, with an average farm price estimated at US $4.70 per bushel That would be 7 cents higher than the average price of soybeans in 1999, but still well below the historical high of $7.35 per bushel in 1996, when there was a shortage of soybeans in the world In an interview Monday, Keith Collins, chief economist at the U.S Department of agriculture, said there were signs of a stronger U.S grain price "We think wheat has bottomed out and corn, soybeans and cotton prices are improving," Collins said We believe that in 2000, most commodity prices have reached 15 or 20-year lows " The average price of wheat harvested this year is predicted to be 2.60 US dollars per bushel, compared with 2.48 US dollars per bushel last year; the average price of corn this year is predicted to be 1.85 US dollars per bushel, compared with 1.82 US dollars per bushel last year The USDA report predicted that in the sales year ending August 30, US soybean exports reached 975 million bushels, an increase of 25 million bushels over the previous forecast, and soybean meal exports increased by 200000 tons to 7.3 million short tons "The outlook for U.S soybean exports is expected to be positive due to the need for other protein feeds in Europe to replace bone meal (MBM) in animal feed formulas," the report said Due to the impact of the drought in Texas, cotton production is expected to decrease The U.S Department of agriculture will reduce the U.S cotton production to 17.4 million bales, 480 pounds per bale, 4 percentage points less than the previous forecast, or 111000 bales