Country News
Argentina: Corn planted area will increase by 5 percent to 10 percent in the 2017/2018 marketing year, spurred by greater profitability than soybeans. Some estimate that production could reach 46 MMT, versus 40 MMT in 2016/2017. Corn planting, which starts in September, will also occur on 400,000 hectares of land that did not get planted to wheat due to weather. Fertilizer sales will be up by 8 percent.
Brazil: FS Bioenergia inaugurated the country’s first corn to ethanol plant. It will produce 240 million liters (63.4 million U.S. gallons) of ethanol each year. Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi lamented that current corn prices do not cover the cost of production and noted that 10 such plants could consume 6 MMT per year. (Reuters)
China: January delivery of corn at the Dalian futures market hit 1,741 yuan/MT ($263.78), the highest close since April of 2016, largely on supply concerns. An August USDA/FAS GAIN report lowered China’s corn production to 210 MMT, a 5 MMT reduction from the Department’s July estimate. (Bloomberg; World-Grain)