Country News
Brazil: The August crop report by the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Supply Company (Conab) increased its corn crop production estimate by 2.5 million tons over its July estimate to a total of 84.3 MMT. This year’s corn crop is 5.3 percent larger than last year’s production, according to Reuters.
China: If Beijing drops the price of corn to world market levels, sorghum may also be impacted: China may import as much as 10 MMT of sorghum this year, but Australian exporters report that sales are slowing as importers wait to see what will happen. Alternatively, there is concern that China could raise the import tariff on sorghum. Either way, sorghum imports are expected to fall off of their recent highs (Reuters).
Southern Africa: A record 27.4 million people in 15 southern African countries are in need of food aid according to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The region had a surplus of corn, sorghum and other grains last year but adverse weather this year has reduced supplies to 40.23 MMT, an 11.8 percent decline (Bloomberg).
Russia: Grain exports from Russia this year have been on a moderate pace. This past week (August 3-9), Russia exported 7,200 MT of corn and 42,100 MT of barley plus wheat with the leading importers comprised of Egypt, Kuwait and Turkey. As a result, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkadiy Dvorkovich said on 11 August that the government is not planning to introduce restrictions on grain exports.