Country News
Bulgaria and Romania: Favorable weather will enable the harvesting of the remaining 10 percent of the corn crop, but yields overall are down from a year ago by 20 percent in Romania and by 30 percent in Bulgaria as a result of drought. This is the second year in a row in which corn yields have been suboptimal and will encourage farmers to instead plant sunflower seed in 2016. (WPI)
China/India: Efforts to remedy pollution in China and India will cause a surge in demand for ethanol. (Dow Jones)
EU: Brussels has forecast barley production this year at 60.9 MMT, a 0.7 percent increase over 2014/15, but it has lowered the forecast for corn production to 57.4 MMT, a more than 20 percent slide from the 77.9 MMT produced last year. (EU Commission)
Iran: Tehran announced that the government purchase price for local barley will be increased by 10 percent for the 2016 crop. Iran is the world’s third largest importer of barley but it has been increasing its support to domestic farmers, first by raising the import duty in July and now by raising the support price. (WPI, Reuters)
South Africa: White maize prices fell three days in a row to their lowest level since August 19 ($211.07/MT) on reports of impending rain. However, the price could shoot back up quickly if the current forecast for hot and very dry conditions in production areas does not reverse itself. (Bloomberg)
Zambia: Maize farmers in Zambia are quite happy as the government reports that 60 percent of corn deliveries have been paid and that the balance should be covered in the next few weeks. A local study says that the country’s open borders for maize have led to growth in the farming industry while causing no negative effects on food security. Poor transport infrastructure and import barriers in neighboring countries prevents Zambia from becoming an even larger exporter of maize. (WPI)