Country News
Argentina: The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange says recent rains surpassed the forecast but were unevenly distributed. Some are calling the coverage “disappointing.” It reduced its estimate of corn production to 44.5 MMT but raised from 5 percent to 12 percent the share of the crop rated good-to-excellent, and cut the share deemed poor to very poor from 47 percent down to 39 percent. The Rosario Grain Exchange cut its estimate of late planted corn area to 1.1 million hectares. A tour of crops by Indiana farmers found corn that was knee-high or waste-high at best. The government raised the domestic price for bioethanol produced from sugarcane of corn by nearly 5 percent. Farmer sales of both old and new crop corn declined. (Reuters; Brownfield News; AgriCensus)
Brazil: The corn harvest has been delayed but grain exporters’ association Anec raised its projection for the country’s January corn exports. Customs reports 4 MMT of corn exported in three weeks. (Reuters; AgriCensus)
Bulgaria: The corn crop in 2022 was down 24.2 percent from a year earlier. (AgriCensus)
Russia: The government lowered its export tax on barley and corn. (AgriCensus)