CF Industries 'pretty positive' on upbeat US corn area forecast
...MORECF Industries underlined its expectation for US farmers to sow more corn this year than many analysts have factored in as the fertilizer group downplayed the threat from Chinese urea exports.CF Industries sales and market development boss Bert Frost said that the group was "pretty positive" on a forecast of that US growers will sow 90m acres of corn this year, despite the estimate being above that from many other commentators.The US Department of Agriculture, which will on Thursday unveil its first formal US crop forecasts for 2015-16, has in an initial estimate pencilled in corn sowings of 88.0m acres, while Informa Economics sees seedings at 88.612m acres.Consultancy Lanworth has pegged US corn area this year at 87.0m acres.'Very healthy corn planting'Mr Frost acknowledged that "there have been projections a little bit lower" than CF's, which would represent only a small decline from the 90.6m acres of corn US growers planted last year."But in discussions with the retail segment that we do business with, as well as other participants in the value chain, seeds and chemical people, we believe that it's going to be a very healthy corn planting season."This would imply "good nitrogen demand", with corn a crop hungry for the nutrient – contrasting with soybeans, the main alternative to the grain in spring sowings programmes, which fix their own nitrogen from the atmosphere.
Indeed, corn's higher nutrients needs, at a time of depressed crop prices, has been seen as a major reason why farmers might prefer to prioritise soybeans in their seeding programmes this year....
