Forward: Ethanol will boost U.S. corn prices and planting area

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According to a report released over the weekend by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at Missouri State University in the United States, the development of the ethanol fuel industry will support U.S. corn prices and corn planting areas this year and in the years to come. Affected by the economic recession, corn prices have dropped significantly since last summer. FAPRI predicts that the price of corn this year will be $3.74 per bushel, 15 cents lower than the average price from last year, but still the third highest level on record. In the coming years, corn prices are likely to rise, and the area dedicated to its cultivation will also increase steadily. FAPRI predicts that the average price of corn in 2014 will reach $3.99 per bushel, with the planting area reaching 89 million acres, up from 86.3 million acres this year. FAPRI states that starting from the 2016/17 season, the amount of corn used in the biofuel industry will exceed that used in the feed industry. In the 2009/10 season, the amount of corn used in the ethanol industry will reach 4 billion bushels, while the amount used in the livestock industry will reach 5.3 billion bushels. By the 2016/17 season, the corn consumption in the ethanol industry will reach 5.4 billion bushels, while that in the livestock industry will reach 5.3 billion bushels.