OIL CROPS YEARBOOK-Summary October 23, 2002 October 2002, ERS-OCS-2002 Approved by the World Agricultural Outlook Board --------------------------------------------------------------------------- OIL CROPS YEARBOOK is published annually by the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20036-5831. This release contains only the text of the OIL CROPS YEARBOOK--tables and graphics are not included. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Record 2001/02 Soybean Crush and Exports Tighten U.S. Carryover Stocks U.S. farmers planted 74.1 million acres of soybeans in 2001, 0.2 million less than the 2000 record. Although U.S. soybean plantings decreased, harvested area increased to a record 73.0 million acres due to lower abandonment than in 2000. Gains in both yield and harvested area raised 2001 soybean production to a record 2,891 million bushels. U.S. soybean exports rose to a record 1,063 million bushels in 2001/02. U.S. soybean processors used 1,700 million bushels in 2001/02, up 60 million from the year before. Though soybean use slowed somewhat in the spring quarter, the overall increase in demand reduced year ending stocks to 208 million bushels from the previous season's 248 million. Since much of the crop was marketed in the fall at lower prices, the season-average price fell to $4.35 per bushel from the 2000/01 average of $4.54 per bushel. Domestic soybean meal disappearance rose to 33.0 million short tons in 2001/02, up from 31.6 million the previous year. U.S. soybean meal exports slipped to 7.6 million tons from 2000/01 exports of 7.7 million. The season average price of soybean meal slipped to $168 per short ton versus $174 in 2000/01. Total soybean oil exports swelled to 2,500 million from 1,401 million pounds in 2000/01. The surge in soybean oil demand in the U.S. and abroad shrank the glut of stocks carried over from the previous year from 2,877 million pounds to 2,385 million pounds. U.S. cottonseed production rose to 7.5 million short tons in 2001 from 6.4 million the previous year based on a higher harvested cotton area and yield. More plentiful seed supplies and stronger cottonseed oil prices supported domestic cottonseed crushing at about 2.8 million tons, up from an estimated 2.75 million in 2000/01. Feed and seed consumption expanded to a record 4.8 million tons versus 3.7 million in 2000/01. Production of peanuts in 2001 totaled 4,277 million pounds, up 30 percent from the previous year's crop and the largest output since 1992/93. Planted area for the U.S., at 1.54 million acres, was up less than 1 percent from 2000, but favorable weather throughout the peanut producing regions reduced abandonment compared to the previous year, and contributed to record U.S. national average yields. Imports in 2001 fell just 13 million pounds from the year before, to 203 million pounds. The large harvest boosted food use, exports, and crush, but a large portion was carried over to the following season as ending stocks grew to a record 1.48 billion pounds, up 35 percent from the 2000 level. Peanut exports rebounded to 713 million pounds from 527 million the year before, and crush was up 143 million pounds. Food use climbed a modest 49 million pounds to 2.23 billion, just off the 1989 record of 2.31 billion. World oilseed production increased to 323.1 million metric tons in 2001/02, from 313.4 million the previous year. Most of the oilseed gain came from an expansion in global soybean production, which rose to 183.8 million tons from 175.1 million in 2000/01. Brazilian soybean output reached a record 43.5 million tons in 2001/02 and Argentina's output increased to 29.5 million tons from 27.8 million in 2000/01. Global soybean exports expanded from 55.1 million tons in 2000/01 to 55.4 million in 2001/02, while soybean meal exports grew from 41.1 million tons to 45.1 million. In March, China agreed to ease implementation of its new regulations on biotech crop imports, but the lapse of purchases prior to that announcement caused its 2001/02 soybean imports to drop to 10.3 million from 13.2 million tons in 2000/01. END_OF_FILE