Corn production in Ontario and Quebec during 2009-10 will be lower than the level harvested in 2008-09, according to updated supply/demand tables provided by the Ontario Corn Producers Association (OCPA).
Imports from the U.S. to Ontario will be up in 2009-10 but shipments to Quebec were seen declining.
Ontario and Quebec account for roughly 97 per cent of Canada’s total corn production.
Eastern Canadian corn production in 2009-10 was pegged by OCPA at 383.7 million bushels. This was unchanged from a February forecast but was down from the 394.1 million produced in 2008-09.
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Ontario’s corn output in 2009-10 was expected to come in at 243.6 million bushels, unchanged from February, but below the 2008-09 level of 270.1 million. Quebec’s 2009-10 corn output was projected at 140.1 million bushels, unchanged from the February forecast, but up from the 2008-09 level of 124.0 million.
OCPA estimated Eastern Canada will need to import 83 million bushels of corn from the U.S. in 2009-10. This would be unchanged from the February projection but up from the 2008-09 import level of 64 million bushels.
Of the imports, Ontario’s 2009-10 U.S. corn needs were pegged at 65 million bushels. This was unchanged from the February projection but up from the 2008-09 level of 40 million bushels. Quebec was expected to import 18 million bushels of corn from the U.S. during 2009-10, which was unchanged from the February outlook, but down from the 24 million bushels imported during 2008-09.
Corn exports from Eastern Canada in 2009-10 were projected by OCPA to total 14 million bushels. This was unchanged from the February forecast but down from the 2008-09 level of 21 million bushels.
Of the 2009-10 corn exports, an estimated four million bushels will go to the U.S., the OCPA said. This was unchanged from the February projection, but down from the 2008-09 level of seven million.
Exports to overseas destinations in 2009-10 were pegged at 10 million bushels, unchanged from the February forecast but down from the 2008-09 level of 14 million.
Ontario’s corn exports were pegged at four million bushels in 2009-10, OCPA said. This was unchanged from the February projection and compares with the nine million seen in 2008-09. Of the export total, two million bushels were expected to be shipped to the U.S., with the remaining two million targeted for offshore locations.
Corn exports from Quebec in 2009-10 were pegged at 10 million bushels, unchanged from February but down from the 12 million seen in 2008-09. OCPA said of the exports in 2009-10 that four million bushels will be shipped to the U.S., while the remainder is destined overseas.
Corn ending stocks in Eastern Canada in 2009-10 were pegged at 25 million bushels. This was down from the 26 million bushels forecast in February and compares with the 2008-09 level of 20.3 million.
Ontario’s corn ending stocks in 2009-10 were estimated at 18.4 million bushels, down from the February projection of 19.4 million. In 2008-09, Ontario’s corn carryover was 14.8 million bushels.
Ending stocks of corn in Quebec for 2009-10 were forecast at 6.6 million bushels, unchanged from February but up from the actual 2008-09 level of 5.5 million bushels.
