OIL CROPS UPDATE                                            December 14, 1998
December 1998
             Approved by the World Agricultural Outlook Board
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OIL CROPS UPDATE is issued as a supplement to OIL CROPS OUTLOOK by the 
Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC
20036-5831.   Electronic release only; no published copies are available.
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The next release of the Oil Crops Outlook is scheduled prior to 9:30 a.m. ET
Thursday January 14, 1999.

Information Contact:

Mark Ash          Soybeans, minor oilseeds, oils               (202) 694-5289
mash@econ.ag.gov


Table 1--Soybeans:  U.S. supply and disappearance
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Supply                          Disappearance 
        -------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Year                                                      Seed,  
begin.     Beg.   Im-   Produc-  Total     Crush   Ex-    feed,  Total   End.
Sept. 1  stocks  ports   tion                    ports  residual        stocks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         -------------------------- Million bushels---------------------------

1996/97    183    9    2,382    2,575     1,436    882    125    2,443    131
1997/98 2/ 131    5    2,703    2,839     1,597    870    171    2,639    200
1998/99 2/ 200    6    2,763    2,968     1,605    840    148    2,593    375
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Estimated.  2/ Forecast.


Table 2--Soybean meal:  U.S. supply and disappearance
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                     Supply                           Disappearance 
        --------------------------------  ------------------------------------
Year 
begin.      Beg.   Im-   Produc-   Total    Domestic   Ex-     Total    End.
Oct. 1    stocks  ports   tion                        ports           stocks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         ---------------------------1,000 short tons--------------------------

1996/97     212   102    34,209    34,523     27,322   6,994   34,316    210
1997/98 2/  210    55    38,171    38,436     28,888   9,330   38,218    218
1998/99 2/  218    50    38,057    38,325     29,600   8,500   38,100    225
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Estimated.  2/ Forecast.


Table 3--Soybean oil:  U.S. supply and disappearance
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                     Supply                         Disappearance 
           -----------------------------     --------------------------------
Year 
begin.       Beg.   Im-  Produc-   Total     Domestic  Ex-     Total     End.
Oct. 1     stocks  ports  tion                        ports            stocks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         -------------------------- Million pounds---------------------------

1996/97     2,015   53   15,743   17,811     14,247   2,045   16,291   1,520
1997/98 2/  1,520   60   18,143   19,724     15,264   3,077   18,341   1,382
1998/99 2/  1,382   58   18,135   19,575     15,350   2,700   18,050   1,525
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Estimated.  2/ Forecast.


Table 4--Cottonseed:  U.S. supply and disappearance
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Supply                          Disappearance 
        -------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Year                                                             
begin.     Beg.   Im-   Produc-  Total     Crush   Ex-   Other   Total   End.
Aug. 1   stocks  ports   tion                     ports                 stocks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         -------------------------- 1,000 Short tons--------------------------

1996/97     517   20    7,144    7,681     3,860    116   3,182   7,158    523
1997/98 2/  523   96    6,935    7,553     3,885    149   2,957   6,990    563
1998/99 2/  563  200    5,052    5,815     2,650     25   2,965   5,640    175
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Estimated.  2/ Forecast.


Table 5--Cottonseed meal:  U.S. supply and disappearance
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Supply                           Disappearance 
        --------------------------------  ------------------------------------
Year 
begin.      Beg.   Im-   Produc-   Total    Domestic   Ex-     Total    End.
Oct. 1    stocks  ports   tion                        ports           stocks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         -------------------------1,000 Short tons---------------------------

1996/97      51     4     1,752     1,807     1,649     132    1,781     26
1997/98 2/   26     0     1,767     1,793     1,596     109    1,705     88
1998/99 2/   88     0     1,195     1,283     1,250      10    1,260     23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Estimated.  2/ Forecast.


Table 6--Cottonseed oil:  U.S. supply and disappearance
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                     Supply                         Disappearance 
           -----------------------------     --------------------------------
Year 
begin.       Beg.   Im-  Produc-   Total     Domestic  Ex-     Total     End.
Oct. 1     stocks  ports  tion                        ports            stocks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         -------------------------- Million pounds---------------------------

1996/97        94   0.3   1,216    1,310      1,012     232    1,244      66
1997/98 2/     66   0.1   1,223    1,289      1,003     208    1,211      79
1998/99 2/     79   0.3     850      929        784     100      884      45
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Estimated.  2/ Forecast.


Table 7--Peanuts:  U.S. supply and disappearance
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                     Supply                         Disappearance 
           -------------------------  ----------------------------------------
Year 
begin.     Beg.   Im-  Produc- Total  Dom.   Crush  Seed&  Ex-  Total     End.
Oct. 1     stocks ports tion          Food         resid. ports         stocks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

         -------------------------- Million pounds---------------------------

1996/97       758  127  3,661  4,545   2,029   692   363  666    3,751     795
1997/98 2/    795  141  3,537  4,473   2,099   544   301  681    3,624     848
1998/99 2/    848  152  3,706  4,707   2,135   700   321  700    3,857     850
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/ Estimated.  2/ Forecast.


Table 8--Oilseeds prices received by farmers, U.S.
--------------------------------------------------------
Marketing      Soy-  Cotton-  Sun- 
 year         beans   seed   flowers  Peanuts  Flaxseed
--------------------------------------------------------
              $/bu.   $/ton   $/cwt   Cents/lb  $/bu.

1991/92        5.58   71.00     8.69    28.30   3.52
1992/93        5.56   97.50     9.74    30.00   4.12
1993/94        6.40  113.00    12.90    30.40   4.25
1994/95        5.48  101.00    10.70    28.90   4.63
1995/96        6.72  106.00    11.50    29.30   5.19
1996/97        7.35  126.00    11.70    28.10   6.37
1997/98        6.47  121.00    11.60    28.30   5.81

1997/98
September      6.72  115.00    11.20    29.70   5.73
October        6.49  119.00    10.60    27.90   5.78
November       6.86  124.00    11.10    25.00   5.71
December       6.72  122.00    11.10    26.90   5.72
January        6.69  121.00    11.10    30.70   5.82
February       6.57  107.00    11.80     NA     6.27
March          6.40   NA       12.10     NA     6.26
April          6.26   NA       12.70     NA     6.23
May            6.26   NA       13.80     NA     6.33
June           6.16   NA       14.40     NA     6.17
July           6.14   NA       15.80     NA     6.17
August         5.43  113.00    14.40     NA     5.45

1998/99
September      5.25  113.00    11.40    26.80   5.09
October        5.18  120.00    10.70    26.30   4.86
November 1/    5.44  133.00    10.60    22.30   4.99
--------------------------------------------------------
1/ Preliminary.  NA = Not available.


Table 9--Vegetable oil prices
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                      Cotton-  Sun-       
Marketing    Soybean   seed   flower Peanut  Corn  
 year          oil 2/  oil 3/ oil 4/ oil 5/  oil 6/
---------------------------------------------------
                     Cents/lb.

1991/92       19.10    22.83   21.63  27.30  25.82 
1992/93       21.40    30.07   25.37  27.40  20.90 
1993/94       27.00    30.30   31.08  43.20  26.38 
1994/95       27.51    29.23   28.10  44.30  26.47 
1995/96       24.70    26.53   25.40  40.30  25.24 
1996/97       22.50    25.58   22.64  43.70  24.05 
1997/98       25.80    28.85   27.00  49.00  28.94
                                                   
1996/97
October       21.95    24.55   22.80  41.50  22.67
November      21.80    24.28   22.50  39.20  22.96
December      21.60    24.29   22.30  40.75  22.27
January       22.45    25.21   22.65  43.50  23.39
February      22.41    25.44   23.07  43.88  23.97
March         23.29    26.18   22.70  44.75  24.38
April         23.17    25.10   23.50  45.00  24.60
May           23.68    25.19   23.21  46.20  24.66
June          22.97    25.01   22.33  47.88  24.82
July          21.89    26.53   21.73  48.06  25.34
August        22.06    27.11   22.02  48.00  25.36
September     22.88    28.03   22.90  47.25  25.15

1997/98
October       24.31    28.47   24.51  49.63  25.20
November      25.73    29.11   26.41  51.00  26.25
December      25.08    26.78   26.36  51.25  26.28
January       25.09    27.69   25.75  51.60  26.04
February      26.51    29.37   25.91  51.00  27.31
March         27.09    30.46   26.51  51.00  28.50
April         28.10    32.47   28.50  50.00  30.93
May           28.28    33.13   31.06  47.20  33.20
June          25.83    30.22   28.40  45.50  32.82
July          24.88    29.40    NA    44.00  31.52
August        23.99    30.11    NA    43.75  29.93
September     25.13    33.26    NA    43.88  29.25

1998/99
October       25.21     33.99   NA    45.40  29.46
November 1/   25.21     34.16   NA    45.00  29.65
------------------------------------------------------
1/ Preliminary 2/ Decatur 3/ PBSY Greenwood MS
4/ Minneapolis 5/ Southeast mills 6/ Chicago


Table 10--Oilseed meal prices
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             Soy-   Cotton   Sun-           
Marketing    bean    seed   flower  Peanut  Linseed
 year       meal 2/ meal 3/ meal 4/ meal 5/ meal 4/
---------------------------------------------------
                        $/Short ton
1991/92     189.20  140.50   76.80  154.50  125.25
1992/93     193.75  161.78   89.00  172.90  133.60
1993/94     192.86  164.30   94.00  194.91  139.55
1994/95     162.55  112.02   62.70  128.94   95.85
1995/96     235.90  190.74  123.75  202.70  159.00
1996/97     262.00  192.00  110.60  232.00  158.75
1997/98     185.30  144.40   84.20  209.60  110.00

1996/97
October     248.50  183.25  116.00  170.00  167.50
November    251.50  196.60  105.00  146.13  168.30
December    250.60  224.50  113.35  172.67  170.00
January     249.20  207.20  125.00  221.00  165.00
February    262.40  183.75  137.50  228.13  156.25
March       280.50  189.10  121.70  225.00  163.30
April       288.60  197.25  124.00  233.75  168.00
May         306.40  193.75  120.00  222.00  188.30
June        287.90  188.44  106.25  235.00  171.25
July        273.60  170.75   84.00  220.00  124.00
August      273.30  176.25   85.00  213.00  126.25
September   278.30  192.00   89.20  210.00  136.70

1997/98
October     229.30  189.10   96.90  210.00  140.60
November    245.30  189.10   88.10  210.00  161.25
December    222.50  190.50  100.00  210.00  150.50
January     202.85  153.10   90.00  210.00  130.00
February    192.75  139.10   75.87  210.00  121.25
March       174.20  128.70   72.60  210.00  116.25
April       162.50  116.25   64.90  210.00  102.50
May         160.00  105.00   66.90  210.00   96.25
June        168.55  129.40   88.35  210.00  100.00
July        183.40  146.65   97.50  210.00  117.50
August      146.25  130.30   85.00  207.50  101.00
September   135.80  115.60    NA    205.00   90.00

1998/99
October     135.70  106.50   50.00  161.00   83.75
November 1/ 144.45  108.85   50.00  100.00    NA
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1/ Preliminary 2/ Hi-pro Decatur 3/ 41% Memphis 4/ Minneapolis 5/ 50% SE mills
END_OF_FILE