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U.S. AGRICULTURAL TRADE UPDATE                                 May 23, 1997
            Approved by the World Agricultural Outlook Board
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U.S. AGRICULTURAL TRADE UPDATE is published monthly by the Economic Research
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20005-4788.  FAT-0597.  
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 #FAT,
$20/year.  ERS-NASS accepts MasterCard and Visa.
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Summary--U.S. agricultural exports for March 1997 totaled $5 billion, 9 percent
lower than March 1996. In the first 6 months, fiscal 1997 exports reached $31
billion, 2 percent under the first half of fiscal 1996. March imports shot up
15 percent from March 1996 to a record $3.3 billion. Cumulative imports for the
first half of fiscal 1997 reached $17.7 billion, up 13 percent from a year ago.
The U.S. agricultural trade surplus dropped 17 percent year-to-year, to $13.6
billion.
 
Exports--March 1997 exports of grains, soybeans, cotton, and tobacco totaled $2
billion, down 8  percent from February.  Year-to-date bulk exports reached
$14.1 billion, a drop of 12 percent compared with first-half fiscal 1996.

Only 1.5 million tons of wheat was exported in March, about the same as in
February 1997, but a sharp decrease from a year ago. Cumulative 1997 U.S. wheat
export value declined 44 percent from 1996 to $1.8 billion. Larger 1996/97
production of major importers and export competitors reduced demand and
increased competition this year. 

Corn shipments also continued less than fiscal 1996 as March 1997 shipments of
4.2 million tons dropped 22 percent from  March 1996. Year-to-date shipments of
27.3 million tons fell 9 percent. A second consecutive record corn crop in
China dramatically reduced China's corn imports this year.
 
March soybean exports dropped to 1.8 million tons from 2.5 million in February
1997. But cumulative export value at almost $5 billion remains 25 percent above
1996.  By March, shipments to the European Union already were more than triple
last year's.

Cotton (including linters) exports rose in March to $318 million, but at $1.5
billion for the year-to-date continue to be about 33 percent behind the value
of last year's shipments. Unusually low U.S. stocks priced U.S. cotton well
above competitors at the beginning of the season, leading to low sales early in
the year. As a larger 1996/97 U.S. crop reached the market, U.S. prices fell
and shipments began to rise. 

High-value product (HVP) exports were $3 billion in March and totaled $17.2
billion for the year-to-date, 6.6 percent above the same period in fiscal 1996.
At $371 million and $351 million, respectively, vegetables and meats were the
leading HVP exports in March. Much of the year-to-year gain in HVP export value
was in vegetables, up 12 percent, and oilmeals, up 63 percent for the year.
Abundant stocks and relatively low prices raised vegetable sales. Meal
shipments, mainly soybean meal, were boosted by China's strong feed demand and
reduced export competition from Brazilian soymeal caused by the elimination of
its value added export tax which encouraged exports of beans rather than meal.

Imports--March imports hit a record $3.3 billion on gains in coffee, vegetable,
and fruit imports. Coffee imports reached $357 million, sharply above both
February 1997 and March 1996. Tomatoes led vegetable gains with value more than
doubling over March 1996, partly a reflection of the spring freeze in Florida
which affected the tomato crop. Melons showed the largest gain among the
imports of fresh fruit. (Carol Whitton, cwhitton@econ.ag.gov)

FY 1996 State Export Estimates--The top seven States were unchanged from fiscal
1995, with California the leading exporter at $7.3 billion. Iowa was second,
followed by Illinois, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Indiana, Washington,
and North Dakota (table 6). The top ten leading States accounted for 58 percent
of total U.S. agricultural exports, the same as in 1995. A record 21 States
exported more than $1 billion worth of agricultural commodities. Because of big
increases in wheat, feed grain, and soybean export value in 1996, States that
are major grain and soybean producers showed large gains in the estimated value
of exports.

The complete 1996 State estimates are available on the ERS AutoFAX system. The
fax number is 202-219-1107, and the document number is 16010. Next Update: June
24,1997
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