Country News
Asia: Asian feed millers have been caught flat-footed by a surprise rally in corn prices, according to Reuters. Millers in countries including Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand had previously ordered cargoes over the last few months by locking in premiums that must be paid over future and leaving the futures level to be determined later.
China: A drought on the North China Plain from May-August 2014 has reduced Chinese corn production for the first time in five years, reports Bloomberg News. SGS SA conducted interviews with 307 farmers and estimates that corn output is set to drop 3.6 percent to 210.6 MMT, which stands in contrast to an October 12 USDA estimate of 217 MMT.
Further on China: China’s official news agency, Xinhua, has released a report indicating that more than 40 percent of China’s arable land is suffering from degradation, according to Reuters. Soil pollution has impacted some 3.3 million hectares.
France: French farmers had harvested 57 percent of the country’s corn crop by October 27, according to Reuters. This is up from the 38 percent that had been harvested the prior week and significantly higher than the 30 percent brought in at this point in 2013. France is the EU’s largest corn producer and the harvest this year is expected to be a record harvest in a year when the EU is pulling in a large corn crop.