Country News
Argentina: A mild El Nino is expected to provide the Pampas grain belt with ample rainfall followed by sunny weather, according to Reuters.
Canada: The Ministry of Agriculture will likely lift requirements for railways to move minimum crop volumes provided that a sudden pile up of grain does not occur and that the railways prove themselves capable of the task at hand, reports Reuters.
China: The Chinese government is set to further its control on the import of grain in order to cut down on smuggling and other illegal activities to prevent oversupply, according to Reuters. China is currently experiencing a grain storage shortage as the country maintains record stockpiles in the face of another good harvest.
South Africa: South Africa has cut its estimate for corn planting in 2015 by 3.3 percent reports Bloomberg News. Farmers could plant 2.6 million hectares of corn, which is down from the September forecast of 2.69 million hectares.
Vietnam: Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture has approved four strains of Monsanto GM corn for use by the country’s farmers, according to Bloomberg News. This move comes after an 80 percent increase in pork consumption over the past decade and corn imports that have quadrupled in three years. Vietnam is projected to consume 33 kg of pork per person by 2020. In comparison China is projected to consume 32.6 kg per person and the EU 31.3 kg by 2020. Vietnam is set to import 4.5 MMT of corn this year, which is more than twice the 2.19 MMT it imported in 2013. Domestic corn production has only increased by 1.4 percent his year to total 5.27 MMT.