Country News
Argentina: President Mauricio Macri is pushing legislation that would allow farmers to deduct the cost of fertilizer from their taxes. The goal is to expand corn production and end over-reliance on soybeans. Corn exports have grown 50 percent under Macri. There will also be greater investment in irrigation and more royalties paid for seeds in order to advance the genetics that are used. The goal is to boost corn production by 37 percent by 2025. (Bloomberg)
Brazil: To reduce the need for idling plants between sugarcane harvests, more “flex mills” will be built so that corn can be used during the intervening months as an ethanol feedstock. (Reuters)
China: The Foreign Ministry announced that although antidumping duties would remain in place, the value added tax (11 percent) would no longer be applied to imported DDGS. Meanwhile, the State Development and Investment Corporation signed an agreement to construct a 600 KMT ethanol plant in northeastern Heilongjiang province that will consume 1.85 MMT of corn each year. (Reuters)
South Sudan: Sorghum and maize prices are 281 percent higher than last year as a result of the bloody civil war occurring in the country’s green belt production area. (Reuters)