Country News
Argentina: The Rosario Grains Exchange raised its estimate of the 2016/17 corn harvest to 41 MMT, up from an earlier estimate of 38 MMT, and it predicts that 6.2 million hectares will be planted to corn in 2017/18, up from the 5.85 million hectares planted in 2016/17. However, soggy conditions are wreaking havoc across farm fields and if rainfall continues into October it will begin to impact the area planted to corn and other crops. (Reuters)
China: Corn prices are under pressure as the mid-September harvest period arrives, and the China National Grain and Oils Information Center raised its 2017/18 production forecast to 212.5 MMT (up 1 million tons). Additional burdens on price include ample stocks and large imports of sorghum and barley. The government expects the production/demand ratio to flip from a 10.17 MMT surplus in 2016/17 to a nearly 1 MMT shortfall in 2017/18. It raised the coming year’s corn import requirements to 1.5 MMT, versus an earlier estimate of 1.0 MMT, and it raised the amount of 2016/17 corn imports to 2.0 MMT from an earlier estimate of 1.0 MMT. China’s new commitment to using E10 blended gasoline across the largest auto fleet in the world will require 15 million tons of ethanol each year and nearly a quarter of all the country’s corn production (45 MMT). (Bloomberg; Reuters)
Ukraine: Hot weather is drawing down corn yields in Ukraine. (Reuters)