Country News
Argentina: The newly liberalized export policy is bringing to reality the predicted rush in corn exports. January saw more than 1.5 MMT in corn exports and nearly 2 MMT are slated for February. The pace is expected to continue until dwindling in June and drying up by August. (WPI) A private forecaster has pegged the new corn crop at 26 MMT, a 30 percent increase over last year. (Dow Jones)
Brazil: CONAB raised its forecast for 2015/16 Brazilian corn production by 1 MMT to 83.3 MMT versus a USDA prediction of 81.5 MMT. (Dow Jones)
Canada: Stats Canada reports that barley stocks as of December 31 were at 5.666 MMT, which is slightly above the trade’s estimate of 5.4 MMT. (Dow Jones)
China: Domestic corn prices are holding steady with some demand improvement evolving around food marketers preparing for the upcoming Spring Festival. However, there is still no policy to deal with the outsized supply of corn. (WPI)
EU: Export licenses were issued this past week for 212 KMT of barley and 376 KMT of maize. (Thompson Reuters)
Jordan: The government will tender for 100 KMT of feed barley, optional origin. (Thompson Reuters)
Zimbabwe: This landlocked and drought stricken country has made arrangements with the Mozambique railway lines to ensure passage of up to 120,000 MT a month of maize. (WPI)