Country News
China: China has announced that it will reduce and/or remove tariffs on a wide variety of Australian agricultural products, including barley, According to Bloomberg News.
EU: Farmers in the EU have brought in a record 70 MMT of corn this year because of good rainfall throughout the summer, according to Reuters. France had a record setting crop of 18 MMT, with an average yield of 10.7 MT per acre. However, initial reports indicated that the quality of European corn is mixed this year, which could make it difficult to market.
Iraq: The Iraqi government believes that the Islamic State has stolen around 1 MMT of grain from northern Iraq and stockpiled it in the Syrian cities of Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, reports Reuters. During their June offensive, militants seized government grain silos in the provinces Nineveh and Slahadeen, where 40 percent of Iraq’s barley is grown.
Further on Iraq. Reuters reports that the chief of the country’s Grain Board has been removed from his posting less than a week after being appointed.
Ukraine: The Ukrainian government has announced that the 2014 grain harvest is 97 percent complete, according to Reuters. Farmers have brought in 62 MMT this year, with an average of 4.31 MT per hectare. Corn made up 25.5 MMT of this year’s grain total, and 7.6 MMT of barley was harvested.