b'MAY 24 - JUNE 20, 2021NORTH AMERICAS TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS NEWSPAPER 11Demand for US agricultural products booming isboom- AGRICULTURE ThedemandforU.S.agriculturalproducts ing. But the future may hinge on a fragile deal.CornspoppingasBy George Lauriat, AJOTgoodswiththesigningTRANSPORTATIONexportstoagricultural Chinasurgeinthepost-pandemicof the Phase 1 trade agreement with boom. The U.S. Department of Agri- thepreviousTrumpAdministration.2021culture(USDA)reportedMay18thUnderPhase1oftheagreement, that 1.36 million tonnes of U.S. cornChina was to purchase $12.5 billion had been sold to China for deliveryinagriculturalproductsabovewhat in 2021-22 [the marketing year startsthey purchased in 2017designated onSept.1st].Thenewdealbringsthelastnormalyearbetweenthe the sale total to 3 million tons of corntwotradepartnersbeforethetariff soldtoChinainjustoveraweek.trade war ignited. Of course, neither TheChinesesalesalsoboostedtheside at that moment knew what was price of corn to $6.52per bushel,in store with the COVID-19 pandemic according to CBOT (Chicago Boardlooming.Inthebaseyearof2017, of Trade). In brief, it was a nice weekthe U.S. exported to China $20.8 bil-for corn in what is shaping up as alion in designatedproducts covered nice year. The USDA are now esti- bythePhase1termsofagreement. matingthatexportsforthe2020- This would mean that in 2020, China 2021 market year willhit a record(BOOMINGcontinued on page 12)2.7billionbushels,upfromexport forecast of 2.15 billion bushels made in May of 2020.Of course, the surge in corn exports is really just part of a wider demand globallyforagriculturalproductsas the reboot from the COVID-19 pan-demic takes root. For example, soy-beanexportsalsoincreasedbeyond earlierexpectations.Forthe2021-2022 marketing year soybean exports are at 2.28 billion bushels, up from the estimatedexportsof2billionbush-els forecast back in May 2020. Once again the main reason for the export upturn is China.r osyusDa e xPortF oreCastThe USDAs agricultural export forecastisrosyforthepost-pan-demicsurge. AgexportsforFiscal Year(FY)2021areprojectedat $157 billion, up $5 billion from the November 2020 forecast.The USDA forecasting soybean exports at $1.1 billion higher than in the November forecast to a record $27.4 billion. Not unexpectedly,thisuptickisdueto strong demand in the PRC (Peoples RepublicofChina)andanaccom-panyingboostinprices.Soybean meal exports are projected up $700 million, while total oilseed and prod-uct exports are forecast at a record $38.3 billion, a $2.0-billion increase from the previous projection. Overall grainandfeedexportsareforecast at $37.8 billion, $2.2 billion higher than the November forecast. Cotton exports are forecast up $600 million onhigherunitvaluesandvolume. Livestock, dairy, and poultry exports are forecast up $300 million to $32.6 billion, as increases in beef and poul-tryproductexportforecastsmore thanoffsetdeclinesindairyprod-ucts.Horticulturalproductexports are projected to remain unchanged at $34.5 billion.Exports for China are raised $4.5 billionfromtheNovemberfore-cast to a record $31.5 billion due to strongfirstquartershipmentsand surging sales, most notably the afore-mentionedcorn.Chinaisforecast toremainthelargestU.S.agricul-tural market in FY 2021, followed by Canada and Mexico.o Pening the taP Forag - CommoDities toC hinaChina opened up the tap to U.S.'