Country News
Australia: The value of barley has risen by $10/MT in a month based on improving diplomatic relations with China. (AgriCensus)
Brazil: The harvesting of summer corn is making some progress but soybean cutting is at half the pace of last season due to wet conditions and will delay the planting of the export-oriented safrinha corn crop. The bumper soybean crop will increase the shortage of storage, raising future concerns about grain quality. (Reuters)
China: GMO corn varieties have been approved for planting on 666,000 acres this year, or less than one percent of the crop area. It is called a large scale trial though GMO corn is already planted illegally on many farms. It is illegal to sell foreign GMO seeds. ((Reuters)
EU: Agriculture agency FranceAgriMer increased its estimate of barley exports by 14 percent to 2.8 MMT based on buying by China. As a result, surplus stocks were cut by 44 percent to 1.97 MMT. Surplus maize stocks were reduced by 3 percent to 2.23 MMT based on higher intra-EU demand. (Reuters)
South Africa: The Crop Estimates Committee published its final accounting for the 2022 corn crop and set the number at 15.4 MMT. (AgriCensus)
South Korea: MFG bought 67 KMT of South American corn with 49,600 MT priced at $343.59/MT C&F plus an additional $1.25/MT for multiple port discharge. KFA purchased 64 KMT of optional origin corn priced at $335.48/MT C&F plus $1.25/MT for multiple port discharge. FLC booked spot U.S. corn privately. (Refinitiv; AgriCensus)
Turkey: As a result of the devastating earthquake, it will take months to restore normal operations at the port of Iskenderun. This will adversely impact corn, fertilizer and other products. (Bloomberg)
Ukraine: The agriculture ministry is seeking larger sized cargo ships to be used for grain in order to boost exports. Meanwhile, both Ukraine and Russia are blaming one another for placing mines in the Black Sea and making shipping more dangerous. Uncertainty over the grain export corridor has tightened the available supply of barges for moving product via Romania. (Refinitiv; Bloomberg; AgriCensus)