U.S. food companies and overseas buyers are using up soybeans at an accelerating pace, depleting supplies even more rapidly than expected, government figures show.
The U.S. Agriculture Department on Friday forecast that by Aug. 31, before the next harvest, soybean inventories will be at a 20-year low of 125 million bushels, 11 percent smaller than the 140 million bushels projected a month ago.
That would leave a 19-day supply of soybeans on hand, about 72 percent below the normal supply of 50 days. Lean reserves, combined with a smaller crop in Argentina and the potential for delayed U.S. plantings caused the USDA to raise its season-average price by 20 cents, to $7.30 a bushel.
Soybeans for November delivery, reflecting the crop to be planted this spring, lost 2.75 cents a bushel, to close at $7.02. Soybeans for July delivery sank 24 cents a bushel, to $8.365, amid signs that processors were beginning to resist high prices and curb their soybean use.
Wheat futures, meanwhile, surged after the USDA cut its forecast of U.S. May 31 wheat stockpiles to 460 million bushels, down 3 percent from the month-ago estimate.
