Country News
Algeria: Government feed agency ONAB purchased 40 KMT of Argentine corn at tender. (AgriCensus)
Argentina: The Rosario Board of Trade revised upward its estimate for 2018/19 corn exports to 34 MMT as the first half of 2019 saw a sharp increase. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange says the corn harvest has hit 75 percent. Meanwhile, Misiones province will boost its future corn area in order to meet demand from Brazil. (AgriCensus)
Australia: Drought continues in Eastern Australia where there is a lot of feed barley demand. Higher prices will encourage a 12 percent expansion in barley acres in 2019/20 with Western Australia planting the crop in lieu of wheat. (FarmLead; USDA/FAS)
Brazil: Datagro Consultoria predicts the 2019/20 corn harvest will hit a record 104.3 MMT. Farming and trading firm Amaggi is switching its best corn acres over to cotton. The firm will plant 20,000 fewer hectares of corn and increase its cotton area by 172 percent. The harvest is nearing an end, and some believe this will reignite the truck freight issue. Meanwhile, corn exports hit 6.316 MMT in July, a record, including 500 KMT to Mexico. (Reuters; FarmLead; Platts)
Canada: Rain in Western Canada has caused barley prices to drop from CAD290/MT to CAD250 deliver Lethbridge. Saskatchewan feed barley prices have now dropped below CAD200/MT. Strong export demand for both feed and malt barley has supported prices. (Platts)
China: Public auctions have been underwhelming but it rebounded recently and sold 760 KMT. (AgriCensus)
Europe: Hot, dry weather has the corn crop a matter of concern in Germany, France, Hungary and Poland. The crop is generally good but in need of rain ant Poland’s production will be lower than year ago levels. The EU’s Joint Research Centre says to expect France’s corn crop to be revised downward. (USDA/FAS; AgriCensus)
India: The late start to the monsoon has planted area 6.6 percent behind last year at this time, though corn planting is at 6.9 million hectares, the same as last year at this time. (Reuters)
Kazakhstan: The agriculture ministry says a record 7.4 million acres were planted to barley in 2019. UkrAgroConsult projects the country’s production to hit 4.5 MMT, up 13 percent from last year and leading to exports of 2 MMT (FarmLead)
Morocco: The Ministry of Agriculture reduced its projection for barley production by 7.2 percent to 1.16 MMT, raising the prospects for more barley imports. (AgriCensus)
Saudi Arabia: Barley imports for 2019/20 barley have been cut by 1.5 MMT based on adequate domestic stocks and increased use of domestic feed. (AgriCensus)
South Korea: FLC purchased corn at $207/MT while MFG and KFA bought privately, the latter paying $$215/MT. KOCOPIA issued a tender to purchase 55 KMT of corn. (AgriCensus)
Turkey: Barley production will hit 7.9 MMT in 2019/20, down from a projected 8.5 MMT due to poor rains. Still, the country’s barley production has been expanding at 5 percent per year on average. (USDA/FAS)
Ukraine: Barley yields are viewed more positively as harvesting comes to an end, and the corn export pace has slowed. (AgriCensus)
Vietnam: Feed buyers are holding out hoping to buy sub-$200/MT delivered corn. (AgriCensus)