Based on the relationship between the stocks-to-use ratio and price since 1998-99, a price of $2.51 implies a 2006-07 year-ending stocks-to-use ratio of 8.8 percent. In comparison, the current projection of the stocks-to-use ratio for the 2005-06 marketing year is 22.4 percent.
The cut in the export projection was a bit larger than expected, but the Census Bureau export report for December, released on Feb. 10, indicated that exports are lagging last year's pace by even more than indicated by the USDA weekly export figures.