Country News
Brazil: Poultry producers hurt by a food safety scandal are finding some relief in the drop in their feed costs. Corn prices have fallen 28 percent thus far this year on the prospects of greater production. Moreover, corn prices could fall further. (Bloomberg) USDA/FAS/Brasilia says that corn prices could fall below the government support level when the second crop is harvested in June/July as ending stocks will have jumped 70 percent.
Chile: USDA reports that the U.S. is now the number one supplier of corn to Chile. As a result of falling domestic production and a 13.3 percent increase in demand, U.S. supplies of high quality, low cost corn enabled a 56 percent market share (840 KMT) in 2015/16. Other suppliers were Argentina and Paraguay. Chilean demand is expected to increase by 13 percent to 1.697 MMT in 2016/17. (USDA/FAS via Agrifish)
China: Corn prices rose RMB 13/MT ($1.89/MT) to RMB 1,605/MT ($232.95/MT). Prices are rising based on government subsidies to processors and declining farmer inventories. Meanwhile, food price inflation fell again in March by 4.4 percent year on year, marking two months in a row of declines after consistently inflating since 2009. (WPI)
India: Other meat exporting countries may benefit from meat and currency changes in India. The rupee has appreciated nearly 7 percent since the government imposed demonetization and this makes exporting more difficult. At the same time, Uttar Pradesh and other states are cracking down on animal slaughter. (WPI)
Turkey: Animal feed production continues its strong growth, increasing 55 percent in five years. Total production is at 20.4 MMT and is expected to hit capacity of 30 MMT in 2023. By contrast, domestic corn production is up just 22 percent over the past five years. (WPI)