Country News
China: (Bloomberg and Reuters)Robust demand coupled with lower production is pushing corn prices higher. Additionally, with the government no longer propping up prices through purchases, farmers with storage will hold off on selling and wait for higher prices. This has all pushed cash corn to 1,720 yuan ($260.97)/MT at the port of Liaoning. Meanwhile, to expedite the offloading of government stocks, auctions of 2013 crop corn have been expanded to every weekday instead of just on Thursdays.
Starch: Wei Xuming, secretary general of the country’s starch association, says production capacity is expanding after the government lifted restrictions. Capacity will expand by 39.3 MMT, with 20.7 MMT already under construction, including fuel ethanol, and will be operating by end-2018 mostly in the northeast.
An increase in the export tax rebate has helped increase exports of corn products like starch (+177 percent y/y in July) and sweetener (+15.4 percent y/y in July). The corn refining industry consumed 61 MMT of corn in 2015-16 and the subsidy (150-200 yuan/ton) to processors may next be offered to refiners in the northeast region.
Kenya: Drought has curbed the output of maize, barley and other crops at the same time the economy has slowed and inflation has accelerated. (Reuters)
Middle East: Tenders include Jordan seeking 100 KMT of feed barley and Tunisia tendering for 50 KMT of feed barley. (Reuters) Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will build a 1,000-mile-long “Land Bridge” railroad line from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf that will also help lift barley, maize and other products out of the Busaita production region. (Bloomberg)