Market Perspectives – March 23, 2023

Country News

Algeria: State agency ONAB tendered for 70 KMT of corn from South America. (Refinitiv)

Argentina: The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange maintains its forecast for a 36 MMT corn crop despite the drought. (Refinitiv)

Brazil: Agroconsult expects 50 MMT of corn exports while Safras & Mercado sees only 40 KMT of corn exports. Except for Mato Grosso, most of the safrinha corn crop is being planted late and outside the ideal window. But IMEA says even planting in Mato Grosso is losing steam. The area planted to second crop corn will also likely be less, especially in Parana. (Refinitiv; AgriCensus)

EU: French barley premiums are holding firm as traders speculate on whether China will return to buying from Australia. (AgriCensus)

Jordon: The state grain buyer purchased 110 KMT of barley on optional origin. The grain was priced at $267/MT CNF with delivery in the last half of August. (Refinitiv)

Russia: The corn export tax was left unchanged, but the barley export tax was raised for sales during March 22-28. (AgriCensus)

Ukraine: The agriculture ministry expects the 2023 production cycle to net 21.7 MMT of corn and 4.8 MMT of barley. That is more than a 15 percent reduction from 2022 when 25.6 MMT of corn and 5.6 MMT of barley were produced. A senior official says these numbers could be lowered further. Corn represented 58 percent of the country’s grain exports in 2022/23. (Refinitiv)