Country News
Black Sea: Rainfall has been 10-30 percent below normal and temperatures hotter, which causes speculation that the region’s corn crop will incur damage. The crop will be 200 KMT below prior estimates in Bulgaria and the heat is stressing the crop in Ukraine. (Bloomberg)
China: Domestic corn users in China have become so bearish that they’ve stopped buying corn in government auctions in anticipation that the world market will force prices even lower. The government offered 3 MMT of corn at below import prices and yet sold just 143 MT. (Reuters)
China: The government intends to restructure its support for corn and production this year is about two million hectares lower, but Agriculture Minister Han Changfu announced that the country would reduce corn production by 9 percent by 2020, or about 3.3 million hectares. (Reuters)
Europe: The barley crop was expected to be slightly larger this year at 62.6 MMT but no one knows how much damage has been done by torrential rains that have caused lodging. Meanwhile, the rains have turned 15 percent more wheat than usual from food to feed grade, which will reduce the amount of corn used in animal production. (Reuters)