USSR SEEN LIKELY TO HONOR CORN COMMITMENT
The Soviet Union will likely honor
its commitment with the United States to buy a minimum of four
mln tonnes of corn this year, an Agriculture Department
official said.
    "They have always honoured the agreement, and there's no
reason now to think they won't this year," he told Reuters.
    "They have an aggressive buying campaign from the European
Community, from Canada, from the U.S. They're active buyers
from all sources at this point," the official said in
explaining why the Department raised its Soviet grain imports
estimate today by three mln tonnes to 26 mln tonnes.
    This is a dramatic shift from just a few months ago when
analysts were saying the USSR might not buy any U.S. corn for
the first time in 15 years.
    A drawdown of corn supplies in China and Argentina, concern
over Soviet winter crops, and increasing competition for U.S.
corn were all cited as possible factors in creating Moscow's
recent interest.
    Lower corn production prospects in some major supplying
countries have stirred activity from big buyers such as Japan,
and the Soviets are also closely watching the situation, the
official said.
    "The Soviets will try to out-capitalize the capitalists"
and buy corn before prices get too high, the official said. "As
soon as they need corn, they'll buy it," he added.
    USDA has confirmed one mln tonnes of corn sold to the
Soviet Union, but both U.S. and Soviet analysts have said the
purchases stand at 1.5 mln tonnes.
    The USDA official would not speculate on when the Soviets
would enter the U.S. market again.
    "There has definitely been an evolving mind set -- from the
situation of slow grain buying a couple months ago to one of
frenetic buying now," the official said.
    However, the situation in wheat is "a different story," he
said. Greater world supplies of wheat, heavier Soviet purchase
commitments and less competitive U.S. wheat prices make Soviet
purchases of U.S. wheat less likely, he said.
    Speculation has continued for several days that the U.S.
is considering making an export bonus wheat subsidy offer to
the Soviets, but U.S. officials have provided no confirmation.

 Reuter
