U.S. AGRICULTURAL TRADE UPDATE May 21, 1996 Approved by the World Agricultural Outlook Board ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. AGRICULTURAL TRADE UPDATE is published monthly by the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20005-4788. FAU-0596. Subscriptions to the printed version of this update are available from the ERS-NASS order desk. Call, toll-free, 1-800-999-6779 and ask for stock #FAU, $20/year. ERS-NASS accepts MasterCard and Visa. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. agricultural exports totaled $5.5 billion, 9 percent higher than March 1995. Exports rose to $32 billion during the first 6 months of fiscal 1996, 13 percent above 1995. Imports were $2.8 billion, 2 percent more than March 1995, and cumulative imports reached $15.7 billion. The U.S. agricultural trade surplus rose 21 percent to $16.3 billion--well on the way to a record trade surplus of over $30 billion. Exports--The United States exported 12 million tons of bulk grains, soybeans, cotton, and tobacco in March, 7 percent more than a year ago. But the value of bulk exports jumped 23 percent to $2.8 billion due to sharply higher grain and soybean prices. Year-to-date bulk exports totaled $16 billion, 26 percent higher than in 1995. Wheat exports were 3 million tons in March, and totaled 16.8 million tons for the first 6 months, 2 percent above a year earlier (see table 2). But wheat value jumped 39 percent to $3.4 billion on higher prices. China purchased 500,000 tons of wheat in March, its largest pur-chase thus far in fiscal 1996. Egypt and Pakistan were the next largest buyers at 263,000 and 209,000 tons, respectively. March corn shipments rose to 5.4 million tons, 1.3 million tons more than exported the previous month, and 9 percent higher than March 1995. Japan bought nearly 1.6 million tons and South Korea followed with 821,000 tons. Year-to-date ship-ments totaled 30.1 million tons, 6 percent more than a year earlier. Soybean exports were 2.5 million tons, 9 percent higher than in March 1995. Year-to-date shipments reached 14.6 million tons, slightly less than a year ago. The European Union purchased 995,000 tons, followed by Japan with 333,000 tons. South Korea bought a record for a single month of 305,000 tons, and Mexico and Taiwan significantly boosted shipments 272,000 and 250,000 tons, respectively. Cotton exports declined to 169,000 tons, 40 percent less than February 1996, and a 44-percent drop from March 1995. Cotton shipments in fiscal 1996 began to decline, particularly as import demand in China, the leading U.S. market, slowed compared with last year. In March, China purchased 52,000 tons, compared with 119,000 the previous month. Mexico was the second leading market at 21,000 tons, and year-to-date sales to Mexico were 43 percent higher at 85,000 tons. High-value product (HVP) exports were $2.6 billion in March, and cumulative HVP exports totaled $16.1 billion, only 2 percent more than a year ago. Beef and poultry meat were the leading HVP exports in March, at $216 million and $183 million, respectively. Beef exports advanced compared with last year on gains to Japan and South Korea. Poultry meat exports slowed in March because of Russia's uncertain import policies at the time. Exports to Russia fell to $52 million, compared with $124 million in February 1996. Fresh fruit exports totaled $168 million on gains in grapefruit shipments to Japan. After strong gains in fiscal 1995, exports of hides and skins, animal fats and oils, and soybean oil have declined in fiscal 1996, contributing to slower HVP export growth. Imports--March imports totaled $2.8 billion on increased cocoa, fresh vegetable, and tobacco imports. Cocoa imports jumped 72 percent to $137 million compared with a year ago. Tomato shipments led fresh vegetable gains, rising 28 percent to $69 million in March. Tobacco imports surged nearly 100 percent to $51 million. Coffee led imports at $272 million, but was 27 percent lower than March 1995. Year-to-date import value of $15.7 billion was 6 percent higher than a year earlier. (Joel Greene, 202-219-0816). Horticultural Imports Gain--Increased fruit, wine, cut flowers, and nursery stock imports raised the value of horticultural imports 8 percent to $4.4 billion (see table 6). Fruit imports gained on higher apple, berry, mango, and melon shipments. Wine imports rose 16 percent to $652 million on increased shipments from the European Union (EU-15). Vegetable imports were up 2 percent to $1.7 billion, and nuts were 4 percent lower at $250 million. Mexico was the leading source of vegetable imports at $794 million, but 9 percent less than a year earlier, followed by the EU-15 and Canada. Chile was the leading source for fruit imports at $273 million, followed by Mexico and Thailand. END-END-END